On April 28, the inauguration of the first event related to the AVIOCOM 100 initiative took place at the A. Geisser Civic Library, located at Corso Casale 5 in Turin. Our association, in collaboration with other philatelic and non-philatelic associations, commemorated the Centenary of Italian civil aviation (1926–2026).
Council member Anna Maria Borasi, representing the Mayor of Turin, Stefano Lo Russo, who was unable to attend due to institutional commitments, attended the inauguration. After conveying the Mayor’s greetings and recalling Turin’s importance in the nascent Italian civil aviation scene, she honored the organizers with an elegant and beautifully crafted commemorative plaque, reproduced below. The plaque was presented to Roberto Gallo, president of the Unione Filatelica Subalpina, as the hosting association, who will be able to display it at his headquarters to commemorate such an important anniversary.
Among the institutional attendees, a representative of the Piemonte Region, Councilor Monica Canalis, was also present. She spent time viewing the collections and all the exhibited material, which she found of great interest, especially as a historical testimony to what happened in Turin a hundred years ago, along the banks of the Valentino River.
Among the audience, in addition to several representatives of the Subalpine Philatelic Union, some representatives of the National Air Force Officers Association, and several of our members, we noted, a very positive note, the presence of a large number of young students from the “Charles Lindbergh” Aeronautical Technical Institute in Turin.
The morning of April 28th, as scheduled, featured a succession of speakers, who entertained the assembled audience with their presentations. As highlighted in the poster already distributed, they included the following:
- The premises for the development of commercial air transport in Italy and the aircraft used (Luciano Sadini)
- The S.I.S.A. and Aviolinee Italiane airlines: aeropostal aspects (Flavio Riccitelli)
- Italian seaplanes and seaplane bases (Silvio Monti)
- The ALA days and the Avioral Rallies (Marco di Cocco Alivernini).
Alongside this, a philatelic exhibition dedicated to the theme was held in the same room, featuring collections that attracted great interest. They included the following:
- The first Italian airlines 1926 – 1927 (Paolo Tondo)
- Società Italiana Servizi Aerei – S.I.S.A. 1926 – 1934 (AIDA)
- Avio Linee Italiane S.A. – A.L.I. 1928 -1940 (AIDA)
- S.I.S.A. – A.L.I. Airmail History (Flavio Riccitelli)
- Traveling with Avio Linee Italiane – 1931 Brochure (Flavio Riccitelli)
- Vintage S.I.S.A. Photos (Annibale Rega)
The exhibition also featured two exquisitely crafted scale models, one of which was the famous Cant 10ter seaplane, built specifically for the occasion. It is a one-of-a-kind model. The other model was the Macchi-Castoldi MC.72 seaplane, with which Francesco Agello set the world seaplane speed record, reaching an average speed of 709.202 km/h in October 1934 at the controls—a record for piston-engine seaplanes that still stands today.
Both models were presented by Annibale Rega, a passionate aviation and space enthusiast, who also spoke to the children present, describing the immense importance that Turin still holds today in the international aviation and space sectors.
The Unione Filatelica Subalpina (UFS) also provided commemorative material, including a postcard and a special postmark, images of which are provided here. Those interested in purchasing one can contact the Unione Filatelica Subalpina directly. As usual, Poste Italiane was present at its branch post office, which was operational on the morning of April 28th, and stamped the postcards with the specially designed postmark. Below are some additional images of the event.
