Giuseppe Mario Bellanca

Giuseppe Mario Bellanca (March 19, 1886 – December 26, 1960) was an Italian-American aviation pioneer, airplane designer and builder, who is credited with many design firsts and whose aircraft broke many aviation records. He was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1973. Bellanca was known mostly for his long range aircraft which led the way for the advancement of international and commercial air transportation. | group="nb"

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 In 1993, his papers were archived at the National Air and Space Museum.