Adriano Mantelli (13 February 1913 – 6 May 1995) was an Italian aircraft designer who designed the

Alaparma Baldo The Alaparma Baldo was an unusual two-seat light monoplane produced in Italy shortly after World War II. Designed by Adriano Mantelli, it featured an egg-shaped fuselage with cabin doors that hinged upwards and to the back. The conventional tail ...

Early life

In 1929 Mantelli competed in flying competitions with aircraft that were self designed and built. In 1931 he started designing gliders. In the summer of 1936, Adriano Mantelli was the leading Italian fighter pilot in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

serving in the

Regia Aeronautica The Royal Italian Air Force (''Regia Aeronautica Italiana'') (RAI) was the air force of the Kingdom of Italy. It was established as a service independent of the Regio Esercito, Royal Italian Army from 1923 until 1946. In 1946, the monarchy was ...

. Mantelli shot down a Dewoitine piloted by British pilot Edward Hillman. Flying under the alias "Arrighi", he would later share the title for highest scoring Ace with Mario Bonzano at fifteen victories. In 1945 Mantelli designed the AM-6 twin boomed pusher aircraft derived from previous glider designs. Mantelli co-founded the company Alaparma with Livio Agostini to produce the AM-6, and later the AM-8 and AM-10 aircraft. In 1951 Mantelli designed and built two gliders, the AM-10 and AM-12 "Albatross", in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

In 1954, Mantelli set an Italian record for altitude in a glider in a two-seat

CVV-6 Canguro The CVV-6 Canguro () was a high performance two seat glider, designed at Milan Polytechnic University in 1940. A small batch was ordered for the Italian Air Force but few were delivered; more were produced after World War II, becoming the most ...

glider. Mantelli received the FAI Louis Blériot Medal in 1962, and 1964. Mantelli reached the rank of General. He died in 1995 while waiting for a train at

Firenze Santa Maria Novella railway station Firenze Santa Maria Novella (in English Florence Santa Maria Novella) or Stazione di Santa Maria Novella is the main railway station in Florence, Italy. The station is used by 59 million people every year and is one of the busiest in Italy ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mantelli, Adriano 1913 births 1995 deaths Aircraft designers Aviazione Legionaria personnel Argentine aerospace engineers Italian Air Force personnel Italian fascists 20th-century Argentine engineers Regia Aeronautica personnel of World War II People of the Italian Social Republic">Regia Aeronautica personnel of World War II">Regia Aeronautica personnel of World War II People of the Italian Social Republic