The first group flight in history between Europe and South America

January 15 marked the 95th anniversary of the completion of the first group flight in history from Europe to South America. It was carried out by a group of Italian Savoia-Marchetti S.55A seaplanes led by the dashing General Italo Balbo.

In Mussolini's Italy, great importance was attached to propaganda for the fascist regime. One of the tools used to create its attractive image on the international stage was aviation, namely various flights (the Stalinist USSR did the same). Balbo was the main initiator of this endeavor. He belonged to Mussolini's inner circle and headed the Air Force from 1929. In June of that year, under his leadership, 20 S.55 seaplanes flew to Soviet Ukraine, to Odessa. The Bolsheviks did not shy away from shaking hands with the fascists at that time. A seaplane base was hastily set up for the distinguished guests on the Khadzhibey Estuary, and the head of the USSR Air Force, Pyotr Baranov, took part in the solemn meeting.

The following year, Balbo planned a much larger flight: from Italy to Brazil. They decided to travel again on the S.55. This rather exotic aircraft remained in history as the only serial twin-hull seaplane. It was created on the principle of “if we can't fly, at least we can float,” sacrificing aerodynamics in favor of seaworthiness. To fly across the Atlantic, they decided to increase the fuel supply on board. The modernized aircraft was designated S.55A and could cover more than 3,500 km.

Fourteen aircraft were prepared for the flight. The crew of each consisted of two pilots, a navigator, and a flight engineer. The flight was preceded by a huge amount of preparatory work, which took almost a year. In addition, the departure had to be postponed due to difficult weather conditions. It was only on December 17, 1930, that the flight could take off. But first, a solemn meeting was held, at which the crews lined up in their parade uniforms. Then the local priest blessed the aviators for their long journey. All this took place in front of journalists and newsreel cameramen, who quickly spread the news of yet another achievement of Italian aviation around the world.

The group's takeoff from the Orbetello seaplane base on the Tyrrhenian Sea went smoothly. Balbo himself was in the lead. However, things did not go as smoothly and easily as they had sounded in the speeches at the rally. The weather turned bad near the Balearic Islands. The single formation split into two parts: 6 led by Balbo and 8 led by Colonel Maddalena. Not daring to fly further, Balbo led the planes flying behind him to land near the fishing village of Puerto de Campo, Majorca. Maddalena, on the other hand, successfully brought his eight planes to their destination, Los Alcázares, on the Mediterranean coast of Spain.

The entire formation gathered there only on December 19. It took two more days to deal with the consequences of the planes' encounter with bad weather, and on the 21st, they moved on. Bolama (now in Guinea-Bissau) was to be the base before the Atlantic crossing. It seemed that it was not so far away, only two intermediate landings, but they only managed to get there on Christmas Day, December 25. Once again, the weather played tricks on them, and they had to constantly deal with technical problems.

Balbo's group stayed in Bolama for a long time. They waited for good weather and carefully prepared the planes. In particular, to reduce weight, they unloaded everything they could do without. Even so, with their fuel tanks filled to capacity, the planes were still too heavy. Taking off in the heat was very risky.

They decided to fly in several groups on different days. The first took off on January 6, 1931, at 1:30 a.m. local time, when the air was coolest. But tragedy could not be avoided. One plane crashed, killing the entire crew. The second had difficulty taking off from the water and immediately splashed down again, hitting the surface of the sea hard with its right boat, which led to the death of the flight engineer. Another plane made an emergency landing in the ocean due to engine overheating and sank while being towed to shore by a rescue ship.

The others safely reached Port Natal on the coast of Brazil. The first managed to cover almost 3,500 km over the ocean in 17 hours, which was an hour and a half faster than the most optimistic expectations.

Balbo arrived in Port Natal last, on January 10. After a few days of rest, the entire formation set off on a flight with two stopovers to Rio de Janeiro, then the capital of Brazil. This time there were no mishaps, and on January 15, all S.55As arrived at their final destination, where a triumphant welcome awaited them.

Italian propaganda made the most of this flight. For example, cinemas in many countries showed newsreels about the adventures of Balbo and his group of flying catamarans. However, this event was lost in the turbulent waves of history, and today the first group flight from Europe to South America has been almost forgotten.

Rostyslav Maraev