Francesco de Pinedo – Italian aviator – lands in HK 1925
HF: Added information “Another adventurer was the Neapolitan aviator, Francesco de Pinedo (1890-1933) who, in 1925, landed his Savioa S-16ter two-seater hydroplane (nicknamed Gennariello) in Hong Kong harbour.|Engineer Ernesto Campanelli from Oristano was his co-pilot. After Hong Kong they flew on to Shanghai, Japan and Australia before returning to Rome landing on the Tiber River.
It was truly a remarkable expedition, considering that their seaplane had an open cockpit and a compass as its only on-board instrument.”(1)
This photo is suppose to be of the Gennariello. Is it? The source provides no further information. And is this Hong Kong harbour? That could be the Peak rising in the background on the left. But what is the hill/island on the right behind the plane’s tail?
Wikipedia has a different route and more seats, “In 1925 [de Pinedo] flew a SIAI s.16ter single-engine, five-seat, biplane flying boat named Gennariello for 55,000-miles in six months, from Rome to Australia to Tokyo and back to Rome. He was accompanied by engineer Ernesto Campanelli. During the expedition, he had to replace one wing and one engine. They carried, but did not use, a jib sail and rudder to negotiate unknown harbours in awkward winds. (2)
Mike T’s comment below includes: The confusion regarding the number of seats is explained here,”The aircraft he selected was a Savoia S-16ter, a five-seater biplane of the type being built at the time for the Royal Italian Navy. He removed three of the seats to make room for additional supplies and fuel, and christened the plane the Gennariello, after San Gennaro, patron of his beloved Naples.” (3)
De Pinedo was killed when his Bellanca monoplane crashed on takeoff at Floyd Bennett Field in New York City on September 2, 1933, as he began a flight to Baghdad in an attempt to set a new nonstop solo distance flight record of 6,300 miles (10,143 km).
Sources:
(1) 500 years of Italians in Hong Kong and Macau, pub. Societa Dante Alighieri di Hong Kong, 2013
(2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesco_de_Pinedo
(3) http://www.earlyaviators.com/epinedo.htm– complete website linked below
See: The Lord of Distances – the life and deeds of Francesco de Pinado by Don Fiore who provides considerable information about the man and his flights
This article was first published on 11th March 2015.
Related Indhk articles:
- Francesco de Pinedo – Italian aviator – lands near Lai Chi Kok 1925 – further information
- ‘Chic Eather’s’ website – Early balloon/plane flights in HK, Kai Tak and much more!
- First Air Mails from Hong Kong by the Imperial Airways Service
- Sha Tin Airfield – First Powered flight in Hong Kong 1911
- Captain FA Swoffer, Chief Pilot, Arnholds Aviation, China, early 1930s
- Captain FA Swoffer, Chief Pilot, Arnholds Aviation, China, early 1930s – Part Two
The confusion regarding the number of seats is explained here:
http://www.italystl.com/pride/page11.htm
“The aircraft he selected was a Savoia S-16ter, a five-seater biplane of the type being built at the time for the Royal Italian Navy. He removed three of the seats to make room for additional supplies and fuel, and christened the plane the Gennariello, after San Gennaro, patron of his beloved Naples.”
This image confirms your photo is indeed of Gennariello — note ‘S16ter’ painted on the nose:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nfox9cxKjBc/UixtZgj7cZI/AAAAAAAAHIE/9RMtPKaszLI/s1600/Pinedo.jpg
Where it was shot I’m not sure though…
Your route is wrong. He definitely flew first to Australia landing in Broome on the north west coast on May 31. He then almost circumnavigated Australia, hopping around the coast, south to Perth, east to Adelaide and Melbourne and north to Sydney, Brisbane and cairns before island hopping to Tokyo. He stopped in HK on his way back to Rome. He obviously was a charming man. So few people had seen a plane in Australia in 1925 that teachers in schools under his flight path telegraphed him asking if he would circle their district, which he did. His arrival into Melbourne was with an escort from the RAAF and 20,000 people were on the pier. In north east Australia which had a large Italian migrant community in the sugar cane industry he made multiple stops attending civic receptions and visited a sugar mill. Although Mussolini took credit on the success of the flight, he had initially refused permission until de Pinedo declared that he or his heirs would refund the cost of the seaplane in event of failure. Mussolini also did not make any official comments during the flight’s progress unlike the Australian press which covered the flight from the beginning. The flight back from Japan to Rome only took 22 days, really record breaking for the time. The seaplane’s fate was inglorious. In 1944 members of a RAAF squadron discovered its wreck near Rome after noticing the (Melbourne) Point Cook Flying School crest on its hull which De Pinedo had painted in recognition of the RASF’s assistance during his stay in Melbourne.