Ansaldo A.1 Balilla

what is it?

The Ansaldo A.1, nicknamed "Balilla" after the Genoan folk-hero, was Italy's only domestically-designed fighter aircraft of World War I to be produced in Italy. Arriving too late to see any real action, it was however used by both Poland and the Soviet Union in the Polish-Soviet War of 1919–1921.

🔎How to recognise it: 1 engine · 7.7 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 220 km/htop speed
• range 660 kmwithout refuelling
• size 885 kgmax take-off weight
• built 250made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 109 years ago, in 1917.
• 🏎️Top speed is 1.7× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).

spec sheet

first flight

1917

introduced

1918

status

retired

number built

250

role

fighter

makers

Ansaldo

engines

1× SPA 6A piston engine

length

6.8 m

wingspan

7.7 m

height

2.5 m

max take-off weight

885 kg

top speed

220 km/h

range

660 km

ceiling

5,000 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.