Francesco Agello was an Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 test pilot

Test pilot

A test pilot is an aviator who flies new and modified aircraft in specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques or FTTs, allowing the results to be measured and the design to be evaluated....

.

Biography and flight achievements

Born at Casalpusterlengo

Casalpusterlengo

Casalpusterlengo is a comune in the Province of Lodi in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 50 km southeast of Milan and about 20 km southeast of Lodi....

, Lombardy, Agello graduated from pilot school in 1924 and soon became a test pilot. He was the fourth of four test pilots who tried to set a speed record with the Macchi M.C.72

Macchi M.C.72

|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Cowin, Hugh W. The Risk Takers, A Unique Pictorial Record 1908-1972: Racing & Record-setting Aircraft . London: Osprey Aviation, 1999. ISBN 1-85532-904-2....

. However, one after the other, the test pilots ahead of Agello died (first Monti and then Bellini flying the M.C. 72, Neri died flying a CR-20 in 1933). Agello became famous when he succeeded in piloting the plane to a new speed record (over water) on 10 April 1933. He attained an average speed of 683 km/h (424 mph). More than a year later he flew the M.C. 72 to a new speed record of more than 700 km/h (709 km/h or 440 mph) on 23 October 1934. Both records, while obtained by seaplane also were absolute Flight airspeed records. No one has ever flown a piston-engine seaplane faster since that date.

Awards

He was awarded the De la Vaulx Medal

De la Vaulx Medal

The De la Vaulx Medal is an aviation award presented by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale , the international aviation standard setting and record-keeping body...

 twice for his speed records, once in 1933 and again in 1934.

Later career and death

In 1935 he joined the Italian government's airplane test center.

He died during World War II in an aircraft crash while testing a new Italian fighter plane at Bresso

Bresso

Bresso is a comune in the Province of Milan in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 8 km north of Milan. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 27,052 and an area of 3.38 km²...

, near Milan

Milan

Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

. He was almost 40 years old.

Sources

• De la Vaulx Medal