波米利奥
A wartime Turin firm whose fast two-seat scouts equipped about 30 Italian squadrons, and where a young Corradino D’Ascanio, future father of the Vespa, learned his trade.
Pomilio: the company and the aircraft that made its name
A lieutenant founds a factory
Ottorino Pomilio, born in Chieti in 1887, studied engineering in Naples and aeronautics in Paris. In May 1916, as an army lieutenant in the middle of the war, he founded and ran his own aircraft company in Turin. The army gave him a helper from his home region: Corradino D’Ascanio, who would later design the Vespa scooter for Piaggio. D’Ascanio worked on fighter and bomber designs with Pomilio during the war, long before he turned to helicopters and scooters.
Fast and unstable
The Pomilio two-seat scouts arrived in spring 1917 and were faster than most rivals. The first, the PC, proved dangerously unstable, and only about 70 were made. The PD added fins and 431 were built, including 93 dual-control trainers because the type was hard to fly. The fully cowled PE followed in October 1917 and was produced in the largest numbers. Pomilio aircraft served in about 30 Italian squadrons. Changes continued throughout the PE’s production run.
Sold, and off to America
Pomilio’s fame spread across the Atlantic, where its aircraft had helped Allied recruiting tours. In 1918 the brothers Ottorino and Ernesto Pomilio sold the company to Ansaldo and emigrated to the United States. Ottorino died in Rome in 1957. Their aircraft had already made the brothers famous there, after Pomilio machines took part in Allied recruiting tours across America. Ottorino was invited by the US government to help its aviation programme, and later published a book on aeroplane design and construction.
Pomilio in numbers
公司
- 简而言之
- 成立于1916年
- Founded in Turin in May 1916 by Ottorino Pomilio
- Sold to Ansaldo in 1918
生产
- 最出名的是
- Pomilio PE
- PC, PD, PE and PY two-seat scouts
- PE: about 1,000 built
- Served with about 30 squadrons
今天
- 现在
- Sold to Ansaldo, 1918
- Founders emigrated to the US
这些数字
- Pomilio PE built
- 984 to 1,071 (sources differ)
- Pomilio PD built
- 431, including 93 trainers
- Squadrons equipped
- about 30
Every notable Pomilio aircraft
| 飞机 | 角色 | 首航 | 建造 | 地位 | 笔记 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pomilio PC | Armed reconnaissance biplane | 1917 | about 70 | 已退休 | Dangerously unstable first model |
| Pomilio PD | Armed reconnaissance biplane | 1917 | 431 | 已退休 | Added tail and ventral fins; 93 were trainers |
| Pomilio PE | Armed reconnaissance biplane | 1917 | 984–1,071 | 已退休 | Fully cowled Fiat A.12bis; largest production run |
| Pomilio PY | Two-seat scout | 已退休 | Final variant of the series |
Where Pomilio built, who led it, what it achieved
工厂
- 都灵工厂 · Turin, Piedmont — Company factory 1916–1918
人们
- Ottorino Pomilio · founder, engineer — Born Chieti 1887, died Rome 1957; emigrated to the US in 1918
- Ernesto Pomilio · co-owner — Brother who sold the firm and emigrated with Ottorino
- Corradino D’Ascanio · engineer — Assigned by the army to work with Pomilio; later designed the Vespa
Pomilio, year by year
Ottorino Pomilio born in Chieti
Pomilio founds his aircraft company in Turin
PC enters service, faster than most contemporaries
PD with new tail flies
PE enters production
Pomilio invited by the US government; company sold to Ansaldo
PE retired
Ottorino Pomilio dies in Rome
Everything people ask about Pomilio
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