page_title: Decennial Air Cruise
section_title: Preparations
hierarchical_section_title: Decennial Air Cruise / Preparations
caption_attribution_description: Italiano: Foto ricordo egli equipaggi partecipanti alla Crociera del decennale del 1º luglio - 12 agosto 1933.
context_page_description: The Decennial Air Cruise was a mass transatlantic flight from Orbetello, Italy, to the Century of Progress International Exposition, Chicago, Illinois. The expedition, organized by the Italian Regia Aeronautica, began on July 1, 1933 and ended on August 12 of the same year. It consisted of 25 Savoia-Marchetti S.55X seaplanes crossing the Atlantic Ocean in formation, according to the press of the time the greatest mass flight in aviation history. The Italian Squadrons, led by General Italo Balbo, were welcomed enthusiastically in the Netherlands, the UK, Iceland, Canada and particularly in the United States of America, where they became known as the Italian Air Armada. A publicity success for Fascist Italy, Balbo further viewed the expedition as a pioneering step towards commercial flights across the Atlantic.
context_section_description: It was decided to double the number of aircraft and men that took part in the earlier transatlantic flight: this time 24 aircraft and 100 men were to be employed.
  The initial plan was to fly around the world through: the Mediterranean, the Persian Gulf, India, China, Japan, Kuril Islands, Kamchatka Krai, Aleutian Islands, Alaska, California, Panama, Florida, New York, Newfoundland, Ireland, and Italy. Captain Enea Silvio Recagno was sent to the Aleutian Islands and Kamchatka Karin in May 1931 to explore the area, and he singled out Attu Island as the most appropriate base for the squadrons. The plan had to be discarded due to the Japanese invasion of Manchuria and the cost, deemed too high by Balbo given the financial crisis. Not willing to abandon the idea of pursuing the North Atlantic route, Balbo decided that the Italian planes had to reach the International Exposition in Chicago, whose motto A Century of Progress he considered particularly suitable.
  Recagno was sent once again to survey the area, this time to Greenland, in April 1932. Travelling by motorboat from Godthaab to Julianehaab, he studied the meteorology of the area as well as its geography, and identified a lake in the proximity of Julianehaab as a potential base for a water landing in Greenland. 
  Captain Renato Abbriata instead reached Cartwright, Newfoundland and Labrador with some difficulties. Having travelled to St. John's, he met an American aviator who took him to Cartwright on a small de Havilland Moth airplane. The American died while flying on his way back, and was described by Balbo as a "glorious victim in the cause of aviation and of human solidarity". Abbriata spent three weeks in Cartwright, gathering meteorological data and studying the coast.
  Major Stefano Cagna, very much trusted by Balbo and an important participant in all previous mass flights, was considered the best candidate to plan the European leg of the expedition. During his exploratory flight, Cagna flew from Orbetello to Reykjavík via Amsterdam and Derry on a S55, the same flying boat used for the transatlantic flight.
  Balbo organized the Transoceanic Fliers Conference of 1932 in Rome, with the goal of gathering as much information as possible for the upcoming expedition. He also thought that the conference would have proved useful to establish a regular airplane service between Europe and the Americas in the future.
  Recruiting and training the pilots at the Scuola di navigazione aerea d'alto mare (SNADAM), established specifically for the expedition and led by General Aldo Pellegrini, took two years. Seventy officers were recruited, most of which young. About a dozen veterans of the expedition to Brazil were also chosen, in order to mentor and inspire the younger officers. The practical part of the training included the expertise required to handle a flying boat on water such as sailing, as well as waves and wind movement. The winter of 1932/1933 was spent mountaineering in Misurina to prepare the men for the skills that might have been needed in case of water landing at extreme northern latitudes. The aviators learned about the various components of the seaplanes directly at the factories producing them. On the academic side, the officers took courses in mathematics, physics, aerodynamics, thermodynamics, English, and navigation. The training was hard: half of the original applicants failed and got replaced.
  The SM.55, which already proved its reliability during the Brazil and Eastern Mediterranean expedition, was chosen once again. Differently from all previous flights, the engine of choice this time was the Isotta Fraschini Asso 11R.
  In May 1933 the expedition was nearly ready to depart, but had to wait for weather conditions to improve over the Alps and northcentral Europe.
caption: Italian Aviators that took part in the Decennial Air Cruise
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