Antonio Ferri

Antonio Ferri (5 April 1912 – 28 December 1975) was an Italian scientist, prominent in the field of aerodynamics, with a specialization in hypersonic and supersonic flight.

During World War II, in the period of the Italian Social Republic (or Salò Republic), three days after the Germans occupied Rome on 10 September 1943, Ferri bluffed his way back into the research facility at Guidonia, destroyed the vital equipment and filled a fruit crate with documents of his research before escaping underground.

[2] For the next year he coordinated attacks of the regions anti-fascist bands using the Valle del Fiastrone [Fiastra Valley] as a safe haven to return to and to receive Allied air drops.

He also conducted important studies in the fields of supersonic combustion and aerodynamic heating of high speed aircraft.

Giuseppe Ciampaglia, La Propulsione a Reazione in Italia dalle Origini al 1943, Roma, Ufficio Storico Aeronautica Militare Italiana, 2002.