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Francesco De Pinedo and Ernesto Campanelli's record-breaking flight to Australia – perception, recognition and legacy: an account in the Australian Press

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 January 2021

Alberto Cauli Open the ORCID record for Alberto Cauli [Opens in a new window]
Alberto Cauli*
Affiliation:
The University of Auckland – New Zealand
*
E-mail: acau017@aucklanduni.ac.nz
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Abstract

The year 2020 marked the 95th anniversary of Francesco De Pinedo and Ernesto Campanelli's record-breaking flight of 55,000 km, from Italy to Australia, Japan and back, in a seaplane named Gennariello. Their achievement was lauded worldwide, especially in Australia, where the press reported on it intensively. This paper reconstructs the story of the flight by analysing the Australian press accounts and De Pinedo's diary, to understand how the Australian public perceived the event. It investigates the aviators’ arrival in Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne, where their popularity was greatest and where the local Italian communities enthusiastically welcomed them. The analysis shows that the flight engendered increased public interest and paid dividends in terms of image for the commercial companies involved, while fascism exploited it to display its progress in aviation. The paper concludes by exploring the legacy of the endeavour in modern Italy and Australia, emphasising the differences between the countries.

Keywords

aviationDe Pinedo–CampanelliseaplanesAustralia
Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Navigation , Volume 74 , Issue 2 , March 2021 , pp. 328 - 342
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Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Institute of Navigation 2021

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