The early years The first Alfa Romeo engine used on an airplane was installed in 1910. Designed and created by designer Antonio Santoni and Alfa Romeo driver Nino Franchini, the airplane was equipped with the engine from an
ALFA 24 HP designed by
Giuseppe Merosi with a maximum power of . The first big result of this change in strategy was the production, in 1932, of the first aircraft engine completely designed, developed and built by the Alfa Romeo, the
D2. Unfortunately, this development was too late for Alfa Romeo who were declared bankrupt in 1933. The state-owned
Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale stepped in to take control and a new managing director,
Ugo Gobbato, was appointed. Development and production of aircraft engines resumed. The D2 engine was used to power the
Breda Ba.25, the most widely used Italian basic trainer of the 1930s, and the
Caproni Ca.101. It was complemented by further development of the license-built Jupiter, the
Alfa Romeo 125, 125 RC.35,
126 RC.10, 126 RC.34,
128 RC.18, 128 RC.21 and
129 RC.32, some of which saw widespread use. For example, the 126 RC.34 was installed on five different airplanes: the
Savoia-Marchetti S.74,
SM.75,
SM.79,
SM.81 and
Cant Z.506. Other aircraft engines derived from foreign designs in this decade included the
110, based on the
De Havilland Gypsy Major, the
115, based on the
De Havilland Gypsy Six and the Mercurius, based on the
Bristol Mercury. Some of the metal alloys used in the aviation business were patented and later used in cars. One of the most famous metal alloys designed and developed by Alfa Romeo was "Duralfa".
The birth of Alfa Romeo Avio In the late thirties the political situation in Europe was changing as the winds of war brought many nations, including Italy, into an arms race. Alfa Romeo's production was directed away from civilian cars towards the assembly of the aircraft engines and trucks that would help Italy in a future armed conflict. Soon aircraft production was generating almost 80% of Alfa Romeo's sales revenue. In this context, in 1938, it was decided to build a production plant in Pomigliano d'Arco, near Naples, dedicated to the design and assembly of aircraft engines. In the following years the plant in Pomigliano d'Arco reached levels of quality and technological achievement that put it among the leading factories of the period. :''See
Alfa Romeo Pomigliano d'Arco plant'' After the outbreak of World War II, plant director
Ugo Gobbato (1888–1945) decided to establish a separate division for aircraft products. Thus, in 1941, Alfa Romeo Avio was born. The Second World War left many signs in the
Portello plant and the production site of Pomigliano d'Arco, which was considered a very important war supplier. Because of its strategic importance, the plant in Milan suffered two heavy bombing raids on 14 February and 13 August 1943. The final raid came on October 20, 1944, which was the heaviest bombardment that Milan had suffered, destroying more than 60% of the factory and closing the production site down. The plant in Pomigliano d'Arco suffered a similar fate on 30 May 1943, with the destruction of 70% of the factory by air attack.
Postwar developments After the war, military production ceased and the factory in Pomigliano d'Arco was temporarily converted to produce cars, trucks, trolley buses, diesel engines, generators and marine engines, as well as testing car engines and chassis. In 1947 the management of the plant in Pomigliano d'Arco passed from Alfa Romeo to Metalmeccanica Meridionale, In 1953, the same aircraft flew across the arctic, raising the international profile of the Italian aerospace industry still further. Since 2003, Alfa Romeo Avio has been part of the
Avio group. The combined company was involved in 2005 in the development of
T700-T6E1 engine for the NH90 NHI helicopter. ==References==