The Italian Aerospace Information Web
by Aeromedia - corso Giambone 46/18 - 10135 Torino (Italy)

Revealed the Ansaldo A.1 Balilla restored by GAVS Turin

On June 1st, the Turin Chapter of GAVS (Gruppo Amici Velivoli Storici), the Italian non-profit aircraft restoration society, organized the first informal display of their last effort: the reborn Ansaldo A.1 Balilla WW1 fighter of the Museo Storico of Bergamo. The historic biplane , one of two surviving A.1s out of 150 built during 1917/1918, sports three large and elaborate paintings of "St. George killing the dragon". It was presented to the Bergamo Municipality in the twenties, to honour Antonio Locatelli, born in Bergamo and one of the best known Italian pilots during the Great War.

The static restoration project was planneed in 1988 but bureaucratic and logistic problems prevented an immediate beginning of "Operazione Balilla". In the meantime GAVS Turin was engaged in demanding programmes such as the static restorations of Gabriele d'Annunzio's personal Ansaldo SVA, the Francesco Baracca Museum's SPAD VII, the oldest surviving Avia FL.3, the Stinson L-5 Sentinel which took part in the Normandy Landings and the Fiat G.55 Centauro for the Italian Air Force Museum.

At the end of 2000, the Ansaldo fighter was finally removed from the second floor of the Bergamo medieval castle where the long-closed museum has its seat. Immediately after this complex operation, the venerable hulk was transferred to Leinì, near Turin, inside the Revelli Metallik factory. The company hosts the GAVS Turin shop, aptly named "Cantiere Aeronautico N°1" after the original Ansaldo aircraft factories.

Long years of storage and lack of maintenance had taken a heavy toll of the aircraft structure and the lining materials (metal, fabric and wood), with a number of critical points such as the now-dessicated rubber tyres and the deteriorated markings on the various surfaces. After removing the engine, a 220 h.p. SPA 6A, for separate treatment, it was necessary to remove all the fabric, damaged beyond repair, from the wings and the fin, without damaging the paintings and the traces of insigna, iscriptions and the camouflaged surfaces.

The state of the wing structures was discouraging: more than 170 repairs have been necessary only to restore the original form to the wing system. From beginning of 2001 to June 2003, the GAVS Turin team put in a total of 6,000 man-hours of voluntary activity for the accomplishment of "Operazione Balilla", returning the aircraft to its pristine fashion in every detail.

Born as a pure fighter, the Balilla was armed with twin machine guns on the upper engine decking, firing between the propeller blades. It is interesting to note that the specific aircraft restored by GAVS Turin (construction number 64) had its right gun removed, probably at some time during its service, and it was also modified to carry a planimetric camera in the rear/lower fuselage, thus becoming a fast armed reconnaisance aircraft. It was decided to re-install on-board the single remaining Vickers machine gun, until then preserved in a separate part of the museum.

The complete and fully accessoried engine of the A.1 was restored so well that it will be put on display separately, along the aircraft. GAVS Turin has provided a very accurate wood and plastic mock-up of the engine, just to maintain the propeller in the proper position!

Along the way, the restoration programme was extended to an (enemy) Austro Daimler engine recovered from the Museum inventory. The material costs of "Operazione Balilla" were sustained, besides the Museo Storico della Città di Bergamo, by Fondazione Famiglia Legler and Fondazione Bergamo nella Storia. Other organizations and individuals supported as usual the effort of GAVS Turin to reopen a long forgotten page of Italian aviation heritage.

In the picture: The Ansaldo A.1 Balilla 16553 of the Museo Storico della Città di Bergamo, restored by the Turin Chapter of GAVS. (Aeromedia)

(Aeromedia, June 2003)