Re: WW1 Italian pilot's prancing horse

["John Hertzman" <johnhertzman@domain.elided>]

Fred writes: "The question of how did Francesco Barracca die in WW1 came up
after all these years.   It seems Francesco was the top Italian ace having
scored 34 victories before an engine fire on takeoff made him crash.  His logo
was the prancing horse which was given, after he died by his wife to Enzo
Ferrari while he worked for A.L.F.A.   Ferrari used that logo on some of the
famous Alfa race cars.  To research now, was that an ALFA engine?"

 I doubt it, although it is possible that it could have been an Alfa-built
engine although not an Alfa-designed engine . One of the very first A.L.F.A.
engines was used to power a single experimental Santoni-Franchini airplane in
1910, the first year of the company's existence under the A.L.F.A. name, but I
don't believe there was further involvement of Alfa-designed engines in
aircraft until two 6C 1750 engines were modified for experimental use in a
single-engined Caproni biplane in 1930. Fiat built aircraft engines during the
World War, as did Isotta-Fraschini and perhaps others - Ansaldo?, but after
the company came under Romeo's control it built some Isotta-Fraschini aero
engines which were used in the Macchi C-5.

 I would also question whether the flier's widow presented the emblem to Enzo
Ferrari "while he worked for A.L.F.A."; I am not a ferrarist and don't know
his date of employment or early status but the first appearance of Enzo in
Alfa histories (that I have at hand) is his second-place finish at Mugello in
1921 driving a 20-30 ES Sport, which was badged Alfa Romeo rather than
A.L.F.A., the A.L.F.A. firm having been absorbed by Nicolo Romeo's company in
December 1915.

 As far as I know the rampant horse did not appear on an Alfa until the
formation of the Scuderia Ferrari when Alfa dropped out of racing in the early
thirties and did not appear on any Alfa after Alfa formed Alfa Corse and took
back control of the racing activities during the late thirties with Ferrari as
manager of the department, but I will gladly defer to others on all matters
Ferrari, including the date and occasion on which the use of the emblem was
given to him.

 I believe Alfa Romeo's aircraft engine activities leading up to the second
World War were almost entirely with air-cooled radial engines based on Bristol
designs. Both Fiat and Isotta designed and built liquid-cooled inline aircraft
engines. At some point during the war Alfa started building Daimler Benz
in-lines under the ascendancy of the Germans, but I don't believe they ever
produced 'pure' Alfa aircraft engines without a base in some other design. But
on that also I will gladly defer to others who know more.

 John H.

Raleigh, N.C.

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