the most famous european seaplane pilots meet on lake … seaplane... · the most famous european...

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The most famous European seaplane pilots

meet on Lake Como

1913, The Grand Prix

Of The Lakes

“Gran Premio dei Laghi”,the first seaplane contest in Italy,

one of the earliest in the world

40 41In 1913 the ambiance and feel was great, there had been no war for tens of years, the economy was doing well and there seemed no limits to the achievements of science and technology. During this euphoric period, mankind achieved its oldest dream, which was that of flying. Aviation was seen as something for the military, but also as sport for strengthening the bonds in society, and as a celebration of mastering the forces of nature.

In the world of water flying, the first flight of a seaplane was by Henri Fabre on March 28th 1910 in Martigues, close to Marseille. After there had been many experiments and gigantic steps were taken; terrestrial aircraft were converted to seaplanes, as well as a few special models with hulls were designed as amphibious aircraft.

On October the 1st international competition was organised, The “Grand Prix of the Lakes”.

The Ministry of Defence had agreed to send Captain Luigi Matteuzzi to Como, director of the ‘Reale servizio Aerologico Italiano’ who had temporarily set up meteorological stations in Como, Brunate, Bellagio, Pallanza and Cremona. During the event, the military forces of Milan and Ticino were set to arrive at the ex racecourse at Mornello, Cernobbio where they had been in operation the previous year.

The day beforeAt Campo Garibaldi, the site of the current hangar, an enclosure for the aircraft was constructed on the 4th October, the eve of the event. Little by little in the vast tents, the flying machines were assembled. The rumble of the engines could be heard, as they were being tested, people firing questions at each other in various

1913, The GranD PrIX of The Lakes

front page: the official program.in the small image, achille Landini.

roland Garros with his Morane-saulnier on the san Giorgio shore, where the hangar will be constructed 17 years after.Opposite page:above, one of the postcards printed for the seaplane event;below, the list of the participants.

languages, the French of Fischer, the German of Hirth. There was huge anticipation for the competition between Roland Garros, the Frenchman and Hellmuth Hirth the German, both favourites for the competition.

The weather, intermittent rain neverthe-less made the atmosphere sombre, people were desperate to see flight the next day. Later that night the stars appeared, but in the morning the weather had worsened notably, not boding well.

The 1st day – The speed contestOn the day of Sunday the 5th, previewed to be the most interesting for the public. The altitude test was planned, as well as the climb and takeoff tests. The weather conditions nevertheless induced the organisers to delay some tests and proceed only with the tests planned for


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the afternoon. The public, the authorities, guests and journalists were all present. At 9 am a voice was heard: «Garros fly». He was to make a short test flight, just to make a start to the event and to the day. The crowd were full of apprehension, Garros the hero of the Toulon-Bizerte, who amused the world by breaking almost every record, had never taken off from water before, and “distained from taking off from over those special floating rafts”. He wanted to takeoff from the shore, Garros, and his preposition

some seaplanes that arttended the contest.

13 - françois deroye - Biplane Bossi

1 - roland Garros - Monoplane Morane

12 - filippo Cevasco - Monoplane Gabardini

8 - Jules fischer - Biplane h. farman

demonstrated how even now the seaplane doesn’t need much infrastructure for operation.

The machine entered the water, all went well and it floated along for 20 yards and then the aircraft lifted off and majestically climbed to 200 metres. To the delight of the crowd, the aircraft headed towards Rovenna, then towards San Fermo and finally returning to land, while descending in the aircraft received much applaud from the crowd.


4 - Geo Chemet - Monoplane Borel

2 - Léon Morane - Monoplane Moran-saulnier

9 - achille Landini - Monoplane sia

6 - hellmuth hirth - Monoplane albatros-Werke


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At midday it was raining intermittently, something that didn’t put Hirth off from making a short flight to Moltrasio. The morn-ing session was concluded by a visit of the Count of Turin. In the afternoon there was a hive of activity along the shore of Villa Geno, where the finish line was placed for the speed test.

At 1 pm the crimson flag was flying, meaning flying pro-hibited but then suddenly it changed to white permitting flight. The speed test was to take place on a 16 km closed circuit, Villa Geno to Villa Taverna in no more than twenty minutes. The 1st to leave was the Frenchman Chemet on the monoplane Borel, with three floats and a Gnome engine of 80 HP, but his start was not valid after having started 10 m passed the start line.

Divetain, Hirth and Garros followed, who completed the competition in less than 7m30 seconds. The Italian Caviggia was up next, he had problems and had to return to base as the aircraft lost its cowling in the water. The Belgian Fischer went around the wrong buoy and had to restart (each competitor had two attempts) but on his second attempt he had to make a forced landing at Cernobbio because of a damaged engine. The engine of the Frenchman Deroye failed 30 metres after


takeoff. Cevasco with his single engine had landed near to the Cape Pizzo, Cernobbio for reasons unknown and taxied back to Como. The races were for the moment terminated, having only the altitude test remaining, it was postponed to Wednesday due to weather reasons. The day offered neverthe-less some excitement; Roland Garros was requested to make a flight for the closing in the presence of the Count of Turin.

In reality the count wanted to board the plane for the flight, but his assistant persuaded him not to for safety reasons.

The second day: The 1st stageThe stage for the second day of the event was Como-Bellagio-Lecco-Lodi-Cremona-Piacenza-Pavia. It was around 230 km. Captain Matteuzzi said the following about the weather.

«There are a few clouds, no fog and there are light winds at 6 m/s up to 1000 metres in a southwest direction. There are strong winds at high altitude but overall the conditions are generally good for aerial navigation within 500m».

The first to set off was Chemet, followed by Landini who had to return straight away as a result of a failure. Then it was the turn of Divetain, Hirth, Garros and Fischer, and in


The biplane farman of the Belgian Jules fischer.Below, Garros water taxiing.

Garros flying low over a speedboat.Below, the swiss pilot Maffei, coming from Lugano, makes a low passage during the contest.

46 47the afternoon it was the turn of Landini and Caviggia; they were ready to set off, ready to be the first Italian to arrive at the finish line, but the weather worsened, the wind and rain had picked up. There were certain people who recommended to stay at high altitude over Argegno because of the gusts of wind blowing from the Intelvi valley, there were those who suggested making a wide turn at Bellagio, certain people were cautious of the variable conditions on the Lecco stretch. They sent people to look for an old boatman who knew a lot about the winds on the lake; he made a long speech telling stories of navigation on the lake disconcerting the young Italian aviators left to begin.

Caviggia, about to leave, took half an hour to start the engine and finally was dissuaded from proceeding by a representative of the aircrafts manu-facturers due to weather conditions. Landini on the other hand, set off with his mechanic onboard but the engine failed over Carate Lario; he was then forced to land and be towed to the shore at Como. For the Italians it had been a bad day, but we will now see how it went for the others. The control point of Bellagio was removed and replaced by one at Cadenabbia. The first aircraft to set off was Chemet flying over the check point at Balbianello, he didn’t see the signal and proceeded as planned along the eastern shore turning at Bellagio, he was fol-lowed by the aircraft of Morane, due to the poor organisation not all of the pilots were aware of the course changes.

Divetain arrived next, after Ca-denabbia he went the wrong way, after flying around a bit he found the course again at Bellagio and continued on the correct route.


Opposite page:the itinerary.

identification belts used by accredited staff.

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Hirth, at the turning position of Bellagio happily reached the other branch of the lake along with Fischer and Garros who proceeded inches from the water surface. At Lecco the shore was overcrowded with many people awaiting to see the passing aircraft.

Morane and Hirth followed Chemet passing by at 8.05. At 9 an aircraft was seen waving and descending onto the lake, an inflatable boat with the mayor onboard accompanied by others were heading towards the aircraft. The pilot was smoking a cigarette, it was Garros with singed clothes, who made the following communication: «After a good start, the race was going well. In the proximity of Abbazia at the height of the railway station the engine wasn’t working well, at one point I was engulfed in flames. Terrified I continued the race but the engine was completely burned out. I descended onto the lake».


The “albatross” of hirth.

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françois deroye on the Bossi-Curtiss flying boat.

above, roland Garros with his wife.Below, achille Landini with a passenger.

altitudes in a southern, southeast direction. Fog at Pavia and Pal-lanza, along the whole course. Clouds were low at 500 m».

The weather at Pavia slightly improved, enough to convince the pilots at the departure. At 7.59 Chemet left, followed by Morane, hirth and fischer. Gar-ros went to Pallanza to await his teammate. From Vigevano, Turbigo, Arona, Lissanza, Sesto Calende and Belgriate arrived telegraphs indicating the order of passage: it was Hirth in the lead, and following were Morane, Chemet and Fischer. At Angera, Chemet was struck with the doubt of having gone the wrong way; no problem in a seaplane, as he descended to the boats below to ask for directions.

The leg between Pavia and Pallanza was considered to be


The third day – second stageThe third day of the event didn’t start very encouragingly, it rained and the wind was lightly blowing. Furthermore the sports commis-sion transferred the operational headquarters to Villa d’Este, a more suitable location for them. The location was now in a luxuri-ous hotel where they had a large room setup with all the neces-sary comforts as well as a direct telephone line. We will now look at the weather conditions as communicated once again by Captain Matteuzzi.

«Light winds up to 500 m that is moderate wind at higher

An announcement was made, the pilot Divetain, having had taken the wrong route, and broken his engine he had to land at Borgo Forte, 10 km from Piacenza. The pilot shortly after was reported as being unharmed but his aircraft was damaged and could no longer continue.

The news of the arrival of Morane, Chemet, Hirth and Fishcer was signalled from Pavia. The reporters stated that the flow of people crushing along the banks of Ticino was picturesque and impressive.

In the mean time the French had decided to use their best pilot and send Garros to Pallanza to take the position of Léon Morane for the last stages, hoping he could conclude with a victory.

The day finished with a dinner dance in honour of all the pilots, at Villa d’Este. Many aristocrats and elegant people attended.


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the easiest, as it took place entirely over water firstly at Ticino then on Lake Maggiore. The Como-Pallanza leg was much more difficult, it took place predominantly over land so there were less references to aide with navigation. The weather in Pallanza wasn’t

some of the participants. Morane, fischer, Landini and Garros can be easily recognized.

roland Garros speaking with the Count of Turin.

could be seen against the green trees on the mountain, that had the form of a dragonfly. A few seconds passed and the aircraft descended onto the lake and crossed the finish line towards Villa D’este. It was Hirth who had won. Hirth was glowing and unusually talkative, offering handshakes to everyone. He departed again for Campo Garibaldi. During the stop at he had been handed two letters to deliver in Como, this was the first airmail flight. The second aircraft arrived, it was Garros in a foul mood and after a further

half an hour Fischer arrived, nobody had heard from Chemet, everyone assumed the worst. At 1 pm the telephone rang, it was Chemet, he was telling of how he had mistaken Lake Lugano as Lake Como, he had descended in Capolago for refuelling; he departed to make a short tour around Ticino and eventually landed at the finish line at 3.45pm. Throughout the day Landini had stayed in Como making many flights that were appreciated by the public, also taking a journalist on board.


a moment of the contest.

great; there were showers of rain, and foggy up to 400 m. The pilots therefore had to climb to 800 m, and the French pilots even advised postponing the event. But Hirth didn’t want anything to do with postponing it; he could feel victory was close. The French competing for national pride made the swap between Morane and Garros. At 11.18 the first to leave was Garros, followed by Hirth, Chemet and Fischer, all cameras were aimed towards the sky.

At midday a loud buzzing sound could be heard and something

54 55Hirth tells his victorious flight

I went lower and lower but the fog didn’t disap-pear, so that I was compelled to descend almost up to the surface. I continued to follow the Ticino flying at a height of 10 m or so. I was so close to the ground that I had the impression of making a sort of aerial motoring.on Lake Maggiore the weather conditions improved and I reached Pallanza.It has been very hard to proceed through the mountainous area towards Como.

«I was the third to start from Pavia and my engine was working perfectly. I wanted to win at any cost. after about ten kilometres I overtook both Garros and Chemet. Garros had landed on the Ticino river and was about to take off. I understood from that that his engine had some problems.I was flying at a height of about 50 m close to Galliate, when I found my route blockaded by a dense courtain of low clouds.


The low clouds on the top of the mountains didn’t allow me to keep the desired altitude.I could admire in those conditions the wonder-ful stability of my seaplane. Despite the strong gusts, the movements of the aircraft were insignificant.In the last part of the trip I made use of the compass. The mountains, all similar to each- other, and the valleys compose a true geo-graphical labyrinth.after some minutes I could recognize Como and I descended. I scrutinized tha lake and didn’t see any aircraft. I then felt the joy of victory.»


achille Landini hosts actress emma Vecla in his seaplane.

hellmuth hirth.

56 57The fourth dayIt wasn’t as bad as the previous day, it was raining in showers; it was cold with light winds. Pretty much the same weather as the first day, but the group of courageous pilots was desperate to set an admirable example of being bold, brave and audacious.

The first test of the day was of acceleration, the shortest takeoff, it was moved as Villa Geno was being battered by the wind, even Caviggia wanted to take part but one of his floats was leaking and his aircraft almost sank 30 m from the shore.

Deroye however took off and had a good test, however it didn’t count, as he hadn’t taken part in the qualifying.

Results of second test:1. Fischer 18 m2. Chemet 50 m3. Garros 80 m4. Landini 100 m5. Hirth 175 m

Finally on the last day, we saw an Italians name on the classification. Then Fischer, with his test, beat the world record for shortest takeoff, on the water of the lake. The extremely long distance of Hirth’s takeoff was as his aircraft had been made to have high performance in flight but not on the water. The test of altitude and climb speed as a result of unfavourable conditions was moved to the next day. That evening, everyone participated in a banquet offered by the town hall


at Hotel Plinius. The town band played the Italian, German and French anthems. Many speeches were held talking about the conquest of an aircraft not as a competition between people or individuals, but as a battle against the forces of nature.

This seemed a new Europe, all be it on the doorstep of the inhumane massacre of the First World War.

The fifth dayThe morning of the fifth day ended the official 5 days of the event, the weather was amazing, the crowds couldn’t wait for the altitude test, meanwhile a judicial case was opened against Hirth for the forgery of aircraft.The competency of the Italian courts was questionable to deal with such a case. At 9 am the organiser gave permission to begin


Opposite page: the first italian woman-aviator, rosina ferrario,was present during the contest.

The seaplanes Morane-saulnier of Garros and Morane.in the background,The Borel of Chemet.

58 59the climb speed test, up to 500 m in a maximum of 30 minutes. Suddenly a buzz arrived from the crowd, people were looking towards Monte Olimpino where the outline of a monoplane could be seen, it was Maffei who arrived from Lugano. After passing low to wave he landed at Cernobbio at the racetrack of Mornello.

Towards midday the race was concluded, with a surprising outcome, victory by the Italian Landini who got to 720 m in 11m 53 seconds. Followed by Fischer, Garros and Chemet who got to 1450 metres in the following times respectively 10m 02, 16m 24, and 23m 06. Hirth got to 1450 metres but outside the time limits.

The altitude test, the final competition was considered the most exciting for the public, began at 2 pm. The competitors had to reach 1000 m; Garros was first, then Chemet, Fischer, Landini and Hirth.

1. Garros 2100 m2. Chemet 1200 m3. Fischer 1170 m4. Hirth 1150 m5. Landini 1000 m

The flights continued all afternoon for the pleasure of the public and pilots, Hirth in his amphibious aircraft descended down to Mornello. Towards 6 pm he took off with his mechanic onboard but the aircraft had difficulty in gaining altitude and the plane was damaged in the proximity of Cantina Maraino.

Hirth remained in his seat unharmed; the mechanic was cata-pulted into the air and landed on the ground with minor injuries.

The emergency services arrived immediately while the crowd surrounded the aircraft. As always happens with aircraft incidents, everyone tried to grab some small pieces as souvenirs from the aircraft.

It was reported by the journalists as “the least disgrace of Hirth”. He had been in fact disqualified for “having violated the rules of the competition”, but many believed it to be a conspiracy by the French and Italians, who – it was said – did not like to see the trophy in German hands.

Garros was therefore the official and final winner of the com-petitions and of the grand prix of the lakes.

The next day Landini was giving flights to as many people as


had requested. Amongst them was the famous artist Emma Vecla, Emma loved the human energy that tamed the aircraft and her only desire was to go up into the sky.

On the sixth day Landini attempted to beat the altitude record, but at 650 m his engine failed and was forced to make a landing. He was then towed to Campo Garibaldi by a motorboat of the Hotel Tremezzo that was passing by.

The important event concluded with the satisfaction of the military as they had put up 50,000 liras to be able to assess the characteristics of the seaplanes in order to eventually adapt them for war use.

The public were happy that they had been able to see and almost touch the wonderful machines.

Como in those days was the world capital for water flying. And still is, for the benefit of the vast community of people who can come to the school to learn to fly a seaplane or simply look at these “living fossil means of transport” operating on the lake.


a postcard explaining the success of achille Landini in the ascensional speed contest.

next pages: a few lucky persons could fly as passengers on the seaplanes.Pietro Taroni flew with Landini.

Hellmuth Hirth

Léon Morane

Roland Garros

Achille Landini

The main protagonists

Pictures come from documents

of the epoch

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1913, IL Gran PreMIo DeI LaGhI 1913, Il Gran PremIo deI laGhI

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