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

Fratelli Pascale Story: from the 30s onward
screaming: “bravo, beautiful!” Gino and I were so excited, everyone asked us for a second flight. We launched the
model that redid exactly the previous flight landing perfectly in an area where there were some people. Here came an
unexpected event: one of the group, perhaps drunk, came close to the model and kicked it, breaking the wings in two
pieces. We immediately run after him and with us all the furious onlookers that absolutely wanted to teach him a
lesson. The din ended and Gino and I came back home to verify the damages and to start the reparations.
That night we couldn’t sleep, the accident shocked us. The thing that mostly made us anxious was the conviction that
inside us there was the chance to design flying models. The path to follow started to emerge and a strong will to
succeed would have led us in a few years to the creation of the first tourism aircraft. All these activities made us
neglecting school; this is why my father decided the suspension of our work limiting it only to the designing side.
Ideas, ideas were continuously debated between Gino and I, always trying to make plans for the vacation period that
unfortunately never seemed to arrive. As it was for sight, both of us were sit in October. I went with my father to
Faicchio while Gino went to Naples to visit my uncle Paolo. Gino could continue the activity with the help of my
uncle Paolo and so they built together two marvelous models AP7 and AP8. At that time my uncle leaved in Via
Medina. They tried the AP7 late in the night and beside this a huge crowd of curious came to assist at the flight,
which unfortunately ended against the tram’s cables.
The AP8 was a gorgeous model with two fuselages with a very complex construction. As a matter of fact it was
published on the Aquilone of March 1939.
Returning to Benevento we learned from our magazine the existence of the R.U.N.A. (Reale Unione Nazionale
Aeronautica, Royal National Aeronautic Association) and we immediately tried to get in touch with the Benevento
division that did not exist for real. Together with Gino, we went to the Benevento’ delegate house, an aeronautic
former officer who was quite happy to give us all the documents so that we could try to start up the Benevento’s
division. We needed to create a school for aircraft model enthusiasts in order to start this sport activity, which was
very intense in other Italian cities.
Schools had begun; we were at the beginning of the year 1938. The catastrophe that was about to strike Europe was
approaching. My father, an army officer, was called to arms and a few months later he left with his battalion for
Tripolitania.
Every aircraft model enthusiast has once in his life the dream to build a plane to fly; this was also our secret hope.
The Aquilone in its pages dedicated to flight, kept us updated about all the constructions, competitions and successes
of our gliding. Thus we came to know that a young aircraft model enthusiast from Milan, named Della Torre, had
built successfully a little glider called S. Ambrogio.
Pushed by enthusiasm and by an aeronautical unconsciousness we decided to start the drawings for the construction
of our own glider. As always, a strict will sustained us. We had many problems but all of them were solved in a
couple of months. We modified many times the constructions plans with discussions and quarrels between Gino and
me on how to realize the structure. At the end, the project, if we could call it so, was completed.
In Benevento we did not have a place available so we had to postpone the start up of the construction when we
moved to Faicchio. In the mean time we tried to supply with the necessary materials. We went to a big sawmill to
choose the wood for the ribs, the spars, and the fuselage.
It was a crazy task. I was thirteen years old and Gino not yet fifteen. I remember that the problem with the glue was
almost insurmountable; we couldn’t find the necessary casein to glue the wood. We finally succeeded in having the
address of the firm Hydra, that supplied the aeronautics and shortly we had several kilos of casein glue. We bought
brass nails, we prepared some assembling surfaces for the ribs and finally everything was ready to start the
constructions.
In our family, everyone considered our project a foolish task. My mother tried to dissuade us, worried for the volume
of the supplying and for the confusion that we used to do at home. Anyhow Mum and grandfather Luigi, always very
generous with us, helped us economically.
We started the construction in Faicchio. The first thing was to build some wood stands that were used as a small
ladder. We emptied completely the room in the basement and there the day after we built the wing ribs and all the
frames of the fuselage.
The wing had a rectangular shape with a central spar that we built outside in the terrace because of its length.
Initially incredulous, grandfather Luigi often came to visit us in our lab. Then astonished, and at last amazed and
worried, I remember him going away shaking his head.
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