Giuseppe Mario Bellanca

Giuseppe Mario Bellanca
Giuseppe Mario Bellanca (1886-1960)
Born	March 19, 1886 Sciacca, Italy
Died	December 26, 1960 New York City

Giuseppe Mario Bellanca (March 19, 1886 – December 26, 1960) was an Italian-American airplane designer and builder who created the first monoplane in the United States with an enclosed cabin in 1922. This groundbreaking aircraft is now on display at the Smithsonian's National Air & Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.

Biography

Bellanca was born in Sciacca, Italy and graduated with an engineering degree from the Politecnico di Milano university. He emigrated to Brooklyn in the United States in 1911, two years after building his first airplane. In 1921 he moved to Omaha, Nebraska, and with Victor Roos, formed the Roos-Bellanca Aircraft Company. On July 4, 1927 he was featured on the cover of Time. In that year, he entered into a partnership with Charles A. Levine, and together, they formed the Columbia Aircraft Corp. On 25 April 1927 Clarence Chamberlin and Bert Acosta set a new world's non-refueled endurance record in the WB-2, which was shortly thereafter renamed the "Columbia".

Bellanca in 1927

In 1941 Bellanca became the head of the aviation department at Higgins Industries, Inc., in New Orleans, designing large cargo aircraft for troop movement during World War II. In 1954 he formed the Bellanca Development Company, to conduct research in lightweight aircraft construction materials. He died by leukemia in New York City in 1960.

Archive

In 1993, August Bellanca donated his father's personal and professional papers to the National Air and Space Museum Archives. Prior to that time, they were kept in the Bellanca home near Galena, Maryland, and administered by Dorothy and August Bellanca.

See also

• Enea Bossi, Sr.

External links

• Smithsonian: Giuseppe Bellanca
• Encyclopedia Britannica: Giuseppe Bellanca

Persondata
Name	Bellanca, Giuseppe Mario
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	March 19, 1886
Place of birth	Sciacca, Italy
Date of death	December 26, 1960
Place of death	New York City