Le regard de l'Aviateur

Its impossible to escape History walking through Rio. Not too far from my home walking Rua das Laranjeiras, I stumble upon an aviator reading details on his plane and about his feat, under a model of of the  flying boat  Savoia-Marchetti S.64 - a single-engine, single-spar wing, wooden biplane aircraft powered by a single Isotta-Fraschini Asso 500RI, 373 kW (500 hp) engine mounted between the upper and the lower wings.

Carlo Del Prete was a pioneer aviator of the 20’s who together with Arturo Ferrarin flew the "Santa Maria" - a Savola Marchetti S64, between Monticello, close to Rome, Italy and Touros, close to Natal, Brazil in the year 1928. The 7,188 Km span was covered in 49 hours 19 minutes - a world record in direct flights.  There was great commotion in Italy as well as in Brazil.

Treated as heroes in Brazil, Carlo and Arturo stayed on for a while and later flew to the capital at the time,  Rio de Janeiro, where they were received with honors. Carlo Del Prete eventually died in the air flying an S62 which crashed in Guanabara Bay in August 1928. Carlo was held as a hero in both Italy and Brazil as well as a symbol of approximation between both countries. They had planned a visit to Rio Grande do Sul where large Italian immigrant communities exist. The plane for this trip was not well prepared and as a result, it crashed over the Bay of Guanabara, falling from a height of 40m, where Del Prete suffered many severe bruises and exposed fractures on both legs. He was rescued by a passing boat but died as a result of gangrene infection after unsuccessful treatment of the multiple injuries he sustained. A full account of his story (in Portuguese) can be found at The peaceful sculpture in Laranjeiras marks the site where  the two airmen received their homage at the Italian Embassy.