He was born on March 19, 1886, in
Sciacca, Italy. He graduated with an engineering degree from
Politecnico di Milano. He emigrated to
Brooklyn in the United States in October 1911 where he operated the Bellanca Flying School (1912–1916). In 1913 he created the first modern aircraft design (tractor design) that featured an engine and propeller in the front with a wing in the middle and a tail to the aft, which was the opposite configuration for aircraft of the time. Bellanca's "tractor" aircraft design offered a lot of performance and safety advantages over the old standard design, and was adopted internationally as the new standard configuration for almost all following aircraft, and is the common configuration recognized today. In 1916 Bellanca was in charge of the
Maryland Pressed Steel Company aircraft division, hired for the purpose of designing and developing aircraft for World War I. Bellanca built two models of biplanes called the CD (single seater) and the CE (two seat trainer). While both models outperformed the Army
Jenny biplanes, the war ended and the military was no longer interested. Maryland Pressed Steel filed for bankruptcy in 1920. In 1921, he moved to
Omaha, Nebraska, and with
Victor Roos, formed the Roos-
Bellanca Aircraft Company. In 1922 he built the first enclosed-cabin
monoplane. Called the
Bellanca CF, this aircraft is now on display at the
National Air and Space Museum's
Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. The WB-2 was renamed the
Columbia, and later
Miss Columbia.
Charles Lindbergh's first choice for an aircraft to cross the Atlantic with was the
Columbia. The
Columbia lost the race to be first across the Atlantic to Lindbergh because of a court injunction grounding the plane due to a contract dispute between Levine and a pilot named Bertaud who was supposed to be a co-pilot on the
Miss Columbia for the crossing. After refueling the crew arrived in Berlin where they were met by a crowd of 150,000 waving German and American flags. After the short-lived partnership with Levine, Bellanca formed a new company, The
Bellanca Aircraft Corporation of America in financial partnership with the
du Pont family. The company would go on to develop a wide range of general aviation and light commercial aircraft.
American Champion still produces products with a Bellanca lineage. "On November 13, 1928, Bellanca received his first U.S. Patent No. 1,691,105 for an inwardly retracting landing gear that reduced drag during flight. This invention was the first fully retractable commercial landing gear ever developed and had been installed on the
Rome during the previous year." He was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1973. == Archive ==