Starting from the weekend of August 15th, it will be possible to admire the latest acquisition of the Volandia Museum: a splendid replica of SVA5, an aircraft developed and built during the First World War and produced until the mid-1920s, made famous by memorable feats such the Flight over Vienna and the Rome – Tokyo Raid.

The replica, in 9/10 scale, was built in 2001 by Prof. Antonio Angelucci from Vasto and took about 8,000 hours of work. He used construction techniques and aeronautical materials (woods, glues, canvases, paints, frames in light metal alloys) employed for the construction of the original airplane, no. 11721, now exhibited at the Aeronautica Militare Museum in Vigna di Valle. This splendid aircraft has been displayed in numerous exhibitions throughout Italy and participated in the 2 June parede (Republic Day) in Rome in 2014. Recently Antonio Angelucci’s son, Giuseppe, donated it to Volandia.

The SVA5 on display, with the livery of the “Serenissima”, is a faithful replica of the aircraft piloted by Major Giordano Bruno Granzarolo, one of the aviators who flew over Vienna in 1918 while launching leaflets that invited Austria to surrender. Volandia has also dedicated an entire museum section to this famous feat and to Gabriele D’Annunzio inside the recently renovated Heroes Gallery, located in the Fixed Wing Pavilion.

The SVA was a fighter, reconnaissance and bombing aircraft, single-engine, biplane, single-seater with a mixed structure. Very fast and modern in terms of aeronautical technology, it was one of the first aircrafts entirely designed and built in Italy. The acronym “SVA” derives from the initials of the surnames “Savoia” and “Verduzio”, the engineers who designed it, and “Ansaldo”, the company that built it in about two thousand units starting from 1917. Mainly used in reconnaissance missions during the Great War, this aircraft became legendary among pilots for doing some memorable flights; first of all the one over Vienna, on 9 August 1918, carried out by the SVAs of the 87th “Serenissima” squadron, under the command of Gabriele D’Annunzio. After the war, thanks to the strong determination of the pilots and the scrupulous preparation of the deeds, two SVAs went from Rome to Tokyo in an exceptional flight of 18,000 km, and one piloted by Antonio Locatelli crossed the Andes on a solo flight.

Our SVA5 was assembled and prepared for display by a “team” of our volunteers, to whom we dedicate one of the photos in the gallery below.