1927 "Four Continents" flight In 1927, Del Prete joined Pinedo and mechanic Vitale Zacchetti in flying the
Savoia-Marchetti S.55 flying boat Santa Maria under Pinedo's command on the "Four Continents" flight, intended to take them from Italy to
Africa and across the
Atlantic Ocean to
Brazil, followed by several stops in
South America and the
Caribbean, a tour of the
United States and
Canada, and a
transatlantic flight back to
Europe ultimately ending in
Rome. Leaving
Cagliari,
Sardinia, on 13 February 1927, they stopped at
Villa Cisneros in
Spanish Sahara and
Bolama in
Portuguese Guinea before attempting to take off from Bolama on 16 February to cross the Atlantic Ocean to Brazil. Sweltering conditions prevented their plane from becoming airborne until they dumped a large quantity of
gasoline, forcing them to fly to the
Cape Verde Islands instead, where cooler conditions prevailed. On 23 February, they finally made their Atlantic crossing, braving a storm and landing on the ocean near
Fernando de Noronha, where the
Brazilian Navy protected cruiser met them and towed them into port. The next day, after repairs necessitated by a collision with
Almirante Barroso, they flew to
Natal, Brazil, to begin the South American phase of the flight. After stops at various cities in South America including
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,
Buenos Aires, Argentina,
Montevideo, Uruguay, and
Asunción, Paraguay, the three Italians began a long leg over the dense jungle of Brazil's
Mato Grosso region on 16 March 1927. At one point, a Brazilian river boat had to tow the
Santa Maria for along the
Paraguay River in search of a suitable takeoff area after a refueling stop, but on 20 March they completed their crossing of the Mato Grosso and landed at
Manaós, Brazil. It was history's first flight over the Mato Grosso. After a week of repairs, the three Italian aviators were airborne again, flying back to the point in the Atlantic where they had been taken under tow, and then finishing their transatlantic flight from there. After stops in Portugal and
Spain, Pinedo, Del Prete, and Zacchetti completed the "Four Continents" flight on 16 June 1927, landing
Santa Maria II in
Ostia's harbor outside Rome. Their 29,180-mile (46,989-kilometer) flight had taken 123 days.
1928 distance records On 31 May 1928,
Arturo Ferrarin and Del Prete – by then a
maggiore (
major) in the
Regia Aeronautica – began a nonstop flight in the
Savoia-Marchetti S.64 involving 51 round trips between
Torre Flavia (in
Ladispoli) and
Anzio that broke three world records. When they finally landed on 3 June, they had covered – a new world distance record over a closed circuit – and stayed aloft for 58 hours 34 minutes – a new world endurance record. Moreover, they also set the world record for average speed over a distance of of . The following month Ferrarin and Del Prete did indeed cross the Atlantic in the S.64, not to New York, but across the South Atlantic to Brazil. Departing
Montecelio on the evening of 3 July 1928, they flew over Sardinia overnight, and then
Gibraltar early the next morning. During 4 July their course covered
Casablanca and
Villa Cisneros, On the morning of 5 July, they were within radio range of
Pernambuco. During the flight from Italy, the S.64 had covered in 48 hours, 14 minutes. The
Fédération Aéronautique Internationale officially recognised this as a flight of – the
orthodromic distance between Montecelio and Natal – and a new world straight-line distance record. A Brazilian mail plane conveyed Ferrarin and Del Prete first to Natal and then to Rio de Janeiro, where in both cities they were given a heroes' welcome. The S.64 suffered structural damage during its landing on the sand, and was brought to Rio de Janeiro by ship. When it arrived in the city, it was donated to Brazil. ==Death==