My Favorite WW1 Topic~~

[GySgt1811]

Originally Posted by luger.parabellum

Gunny John

As you now the original Franecsco Baracca's SPAD VIII went destroyed when the pilot got shot while flying over the Austrian lines on 19 of June 1918 still you might be interested to see the video of the very exact copy rebuilt and flying:

http://www.museobaracca.it/Video2/Un...o-del-Montello

Sergio

Sergio,

I knew that Franecsco Baracca is, perhaps, Italy's greatest ace. I didn't realize that the Spad in the picture was a replica of his. From what I've heard (obviously!) the Spad was a powerful and tricky aircraft to master, but Baracca did it well.

Italian aircraft, by the way, are greatly underrated in my opinion. The WW1 Caprione's were intriguing and radical for their time; and WW2's Folgories (Please pardon my very bad Italian spelling ) were flying Ferrari's!

And what a great video! Thanks for sharing, but I have two questions. Instead of an American rock group sing some insipid song, why wasn't the background music Verdi's "Te Deum" or Va Penserio?" And I wonder what engine they put in the replica instead of the water cooled V-8. If I recall correctly the original was a Marc Birget designed Hispano-Suiza. Of course, there may not be any H-S's left, or any left that could be risked in an operational aircraft.

Very Best Regards,

Gunny John

PS. My wife and I hope to make our 5th trip to Italy sometime in 2015. We can't get enough!