Fratelli Pascale Story: from the 30s onward - Tecnam.com

Fratelli Pascale Story: from the 30s onward
the famous Alaparma, some of which piloted by very good pilots. From Naples there was Poli, instructor of the Aero
Club, Piperno and Santini. On the airport large square the aircrafts were all lined up in accordance with the departure
order. The Tigrotto, in sixth position was preceded by the Alaparma and the Macchi, followed by a Norecrin, a Grifo
Ambrosini and a Proctor 3.
I waited for the departure of the P52 on the large square and the run in Via Caracciolo to assist to the turn around at
the Rotonda Diaz mast where the tribunes were. After four turns the P52 overtook all the aircrafts that had left before
and making some very good turns he was winning on the one that followed. He was the first to cross the finishing
line leading fairly well on the second. I ran immediately to the airport: Gino and Caracciolo were radiant with
happiness; the P52 had given an excellent proof of speed and handiness.
At night time there was a big reception and the prize giving at the Circolo della Stampa. At our table were seated the
Princess Caracciolo, the Prince, Gino and I, the Captain Mario deBernardi with his daughter Fiorenza, Miss Sartori,
very good pilot, all waiting for the final results, by this time reported, but that did not come out as the timers were
not ready yet.
Finally they got into the room and with our dismay, they had mistaken everything, so the results were completely
wrong. I flew into a fury, went to the timers that finally realized the mistake and everything went properly. The Ing.
Bonifacio, President of the Naples Aero Club delivered the cups: 1 st Caracciolo on P52 Tigrotto, 2° Meneghini on
Proctor 3, 3° De Bernardi on Alaparma.
After the Golfo competition there was immediately the Sicily Tour, it was exactly the VI°, definitely the most
important competition of the season. The P52 was by now well tested and also well known into the nation. The Sicily
test was very important and the formulation particularly suitable to the P52 which with 3 persons on board flew at a
speed of 250 km per hour with a power of 90 hp.
I left from Naples with Caracciolo and Bruno Tedesco, a friend of us that used to work in the garage of Via Tasso.
Bruno had the great advantage of being small and thin, much lighter as being the third person on board. We arrived
in Palermo late in the morning, welcomed warmly by Beppe Albanese. Lots of airplanes were already lined up on the
field ready for the departure of the first stopping place that punctually happened the following day.
The competition’s conduct was not one of the best; I don’t know why Caracciolo flew at an enormous height altitude
and not at full speed. Nevertheless we arrived in Catania 6 th. . I was very irritated and called immediately Gino in
Naples to inform him about the competition.
From Catania we went by bus to Taormina where we slept at the San Domenico Hotel. At night we met with lots of
friends and pilots competitors that asked me why we had such a low result. Unfortunately the second stopping place
did not go better than the first. The conduct of the competition did not change even though in the final, in the last
three laps around the field, Caracciolo made some turns at the masts really fantastic. At last we were classed 9 th , and
sadly we returned to Naples.
By now we knew that the P52 was an excellent aircraft, but we needed to go further. With Gino we already thought
of an aircraft quicker made for competitions. It was yet necessary to find a sponsor, someone interested in building it.
The occasion came the night of the Sicilian tour prize giving at Villa Igea in Palermo. I talked about it to Ceschina,
sportive pilot, champion of engine flying, who run with an airplane 45 made in Cecoslovacchia. Between him and
Guagnellini, even him sportive champion, there was a big rivalry. In fact, in lots of competitions he did not manage
to beat him, coming always second. Even in this lap, the story recurred, so the moment was really propitious. I
pointed out to Ceschina the project we had in our studio and he seemed immediately very impressed. We talked
about it for a long time, I explained him all the details of the new aircraft and at the end he told me to send him
immediately the sketches to Venice.
This meeting with Renzo Ceschina was another important ring of the development and of the success Partenavia in
the following years. As soon as arrived in Naples with Gino we started to work straight away to finish the sketches
and the description of P55 Tornado that we sent quickly to Ceschina. It was the 15 th of July 1954.
Fifteen or twenty days went by always waiting for some news from Venice that however did not arrive. Then finally
a phone call from Serena, pilot and friend of Ceschina that was telling us the big enthusiasm of Ceschina for the P55
and the urgency of taking a decision.
Serena got to Capodichino with the twin-engined Aero 45 coming from Venice. Gino and I left with all the drawings
and projects with the twin-engined and landed at the Lido S. Nicolò airport.
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