Cosimo Rennella Lieutenant Colonel Cosimo Rennella Barbatto was an Ecuador ian World War I flying ace of Italian heritage . He was credited with seven confirmed aerial victories flying for Italian aviation during the war ; however , his pioneering civil aviation activities both before and immediately following the war were probably even more important than his martial career . Pre - World War I activities . He was born in Italy as Cosimo Rennella on 15 February 1890 , but in 1892 , the toddler accompanied his family when they emigrated to Guayaquil , Ecuador . While there , his name was Latinized into Cosimo Rennella Barbatto by appending his mother ' s maiden name , though he was usually called " Cosme " . In 1909 , he volunteered to serve in the Patria I Battalion in military operations against Peru . In 1911 , Rennella persuaded a local sportsman ' s club , the " Club Guayas de Tiro Aviacion " ( Guayas Shooting and Aviation Club ) , to sponsor his pilot ' s training ; his aim was to be the first flier in Ecuador . The club underwrote Rennella ' s journey to Pau , France to learn to fly . There the young tyro became a pilot using French Blériot military airplanes . He finally qualified for his civil pilot ' s license at Turin ' s Chiribiri flying school on 24 August 1912 . Following that , he accompanied a pair of Nieuport ish monoplanes back across the Atlantic to Panama . By the time Rennella and his two traveling companions returned to Central America with an airplane , the first flight in Ecuador , which was by Chilean Lieutenant Eduardo Molina Lavín , had taken place in their absence . Rennella ' s new airplane was a knockoff of a French Nieuport , built by Navaro and Valgoi of Torino , Italy . On 15 December 1912 , having been forbidden to fly across the Isthmus of Panama by U . S . officials , he flew an unauthorized flight in this plane over Panama City , leafletting the town with fliers thanking the populace for their support of his flight , in may have been the first aerial pamphlet drop in history . In the middle of January 1913 , he was welcomed home in Ecuador . Once there , he accepted the obligation of returning to Italy for more training while he supervised the manufacture of a Chiribiri monoplane for his Club sponsors . He brought this plane , dubbed Patria No . I , back to Ecuador . He used his time in Italy to somehow qualify for an Italian military pilot ' s license , which was granted at Turin on 25 July 1913 . Rennella was back in Ecuador by 29 September 1913 . On 8 October 1913 , at Guayaquil , Cosimo Rennella became the first Ecuadorian citizen to fly in his own nation . A follow - up exhibition scheduled for the 19th dwindled away amid controversy over potential gate receipts . Rennella may have briefly served in the Ecuadorian military before barnstorming in Peru , Chile , and Mexico ; he founded a flying school in the latter . Italy ' s 24 May 1915 entry into World War I sparked his July return to Italy , where he begged the War Ministry to allow him to volunteer to fly for them . World War I . Rennella entered aviation training in Pisa on 17 September 1915 . He qualified as a Farman student on 1 February 1916 . On 6 February , he transferred to training at Busto Aristo . In April , he moved to Turin to qualify on the more advanced Maurice Farman 14 . Finally , rated as a " Caporal " , he was posted to duty with a reconnaissance squadron , " 31a Squadriglia " on 14 April 1916 . He flew his first combat sortie the next day . He transferred twice more to other reconnaissance squadrons — " 48a Squadriglia " on 1 May , " 45a Squadriglia " on 12 July 1916 . He survived an enemy attack on his plane on 6 August . On 31 August , he was promoted to " Sergente " . Rennella served as a pilot flying two - seaters until 23 June 1917 , when he passed the physical examination to become a fighter pilot . He reported to Malpensa for training , and qualified on a Nieuport 11 on 7 August . On the 9th , he began gunnery training at Pisa . On 14 August 1917 , he reported to " 78a Squadriglia " . Between 24 September 1917 and 31 August 1918 , as he flew with " 78a Squadriglia " of the " Corpo Aeronautico Militare " , he scored seven confirmed aerial victories , having 11 other claims go unconfirmed . He began his string of victories flying a Nieuport 17 , but re - equipped with a Hanriot HD . 1 . As his victories mounted , he wrote letters home to the Ecuadorian press describing his experiences . Post World War I . The Bongiovanni military intelligence commission released its report on aerial victories on 1 February 1919 ; seven of Rennella ' s victory claims were verified . By the time Rennella reportedly left the " Corpo Aeronautico Militare " in March 1919 , he had been honored with two awards of the Silver Medal for Military Valor , the War Merit Cross , the French " Croix de guerre " , and the Belgian " Croix de guerre " . Rennella returned to South America in early 1920 . In February 1920 , Rennella was involved in a local business enterprise at La Guaira , Venezuela . On February 27 , he flew a Hanriot HD . 1 fighter at Caracas . The next day , Rennella flew from Caracas to Maracay . Continuing his operations through March , he subsequently pioneered inter - urban flights in Venezuela ; he also flew at least one airmail flight . He is sometimes mistakenly credited with the first Venezuelan military flight because he used a war surplus fighter for his flights . However , he is credited with establishing a flying school at Maracay . Rennella returned to his native Ecuador in 1924 to join its fledgling air force as a " Capitano " . In August 1932 , he would fly the Ecuadorian Air Force ' s first operational missions . In August 1934 , he was awarded Ecuador ' s Order of Abdon Calderón , Second Class . He was subsequently promoted to Major . In early 1937 , Cosimo Rennella traveled to a convention of World War I aces in Dayton , Ohio . Upon his return , he was admitted to the military hospital in Quito with pneumonia . He died there on 3 May 1937 . He was posthumously promoted to Lieutenant Colonel . Legacy . Today , the celebrations held in Guayaquil for 86 years of FAE , a replica of the biplane parades through the streets together with that of a Kfir fighter . At Air Force Base Simón Bolívar is instead scheduled an air show involving over 50 aircraft of different types .