The Aviation Historian — Issue 21 (October 2017)

56 THE AVIATION HISTORIAN Issue No 21

system, in which air was sucked in through the

upper wing surface and blown out elsewhere.^9

The idea was not pursued, however, and

eventually the RAQ received the AQV in a

two-seat configuration with a fixed under-

carriage with simplified fairings. At the time, the

unit comprised only four pilots. The choice fell

on Capitano Aldo Oddono, a 28-year-old

decorated veteran of the 1935–36 Second Italo-

Ethiopian War, who had joined the RAQ on

October 22, 1938, after brief spells with the Regia

Aeronautica’s 53o and 50o Stormo (Wings).

Although he lacked specific altitude or testing

experience, Oddono had received the highest

marks for flying skill. “Nobody knew what the

aircraft was”, Oddono recalled when interviewed

in the 1990s, adding that he had been selected

because Pezzi was serving in Albania and Di

Mauro was working on another seaplane

altitude record. “At Guidonia everyone was very

protective of their work, and ‘kept mum’”.

On June 10, 1940, the Italian leader, Benito

Mussolini, declared war on France and

Britain. On July 6, Oddono made the short and

uneventful maiden flight of the AQV. “Because

I was a Service pilot testing a Service-built

aircraft,” Oddono complained, “I was not

paid the handsome first-flight bonuses which

company pilots received”. He also added that

the AQV was pleasant to fly and that he had

been its only pilot, which the author can confirm

through the logbooks of RAQ pilots Pezzi,

Maggiore Nicola Di Mauro and Capitano Paolo

Moci (who stated categorically in 1992 that he

was assigned to the CS at the time).^10

On the second flight of the AQV, on July

30, Oddono carried its designer, Schepisi,

as a passenger, the only person recorded as

such during the aircraft’s career. Confirming

the overall lack of official interest, the third

test flight was not made until December 18.

To put the RAQ’s aircraft to good use, it was

suggested that they be fitted with cameras for

reconnaissance duties over Malta. At least one

Ca.113R was so equipped, and Oddono flew

several photographic test sorties over Rome,

including one at 13,000m (42,600ft). “We could

see three seas from there,” he recalled, “and

LEFT The pilots of the RAQ
pose beside the Caproni
Ca.161. Capitano Aldo
Oddono, second from left,
was the only pilot to fly the
AQV. Other members of the
group include Maggiore
Tomaso Lomonaco, the
doctor who oversaw the
physiological aspects of the
high-altitude programme
(third from left) and pilots
Tenente Colonello Mario
Pezzi (second from right) and
Maggiore Nicola Di Mauro
(furthest right).
BELOW A rear view of the
AQV at Guidonia, showing
the aircraft’s distinctive wing
markings. It appears that
the aircraft was built with
equal-span wings, rather than
having one wing clipped to
AUTHOR’S COLLECTION counteract engine torque.

BALDESSARE CATALANOTTO COLLECTION