A garage in Mergellina

In 1949 the brothers Giovanni and Luigi Pascale, Luigi an assistant at the University of Naples aeronautics institute, started building a two-seater in a garage at Via Tasso 480 in Mergellina. Two years later, on 2 April 1951, the P.48B Astore was flown by the famous racing pilot Mario de Bernardi. In 1957 they formed Partenavia with a factory at Arzano, and from then on every design carried a P, for Pascale, and the year of its conception.

Oscar and the P.68

The first big seller was the P.57 Fachiro, a four-seat high-wing club aircraft, followed by the all-metal Oscar, still used to train new pilots at Italian flying clubs. Then came the P.68, a six-seat twin with fixed gear, first flown at Naples on 25 May 1970 and built at a new plant at Casoria near Capodichino. In 1974 it cost $82,000. Observer versions with a glazed nose and turboprop Spartacus and Viator derivatives followed, and about half of yearly sales went to North America in the 1980s.

Aeritalia, bankruptcy and the Pascale legacy

Aeritalia took over Partenavia in 1981 and had it build more than 100 P.66C Charlie trainers for the Aero Club d’Italia, but gave it little money. It was sold to Aercosmos and declared bankrupt in March 1998. Vulcanair bought the assets, type certificates and plant for L1.4 billion and put the P.68 back into production. The Pascales, meanwhile, had founded Tecnam in 1986, and their aircraft still follow the P-and-year naming rule.

Factories

• Arzano · Arzano, Naples — Factory acquired 1957; P.68 prototype built here
• Casoria · Casoria, near Naples Capodichino — Opened 1970 for P.68 production; later used by Vulcanair

People

• Luigi Pascale · co-founder, designer — Professor at the University of Naples
• Giovanni Pascale · co-founder
• Mario de Bernardi · test pilot — Flew the first Pascale aircraft, 1951