He worked for Officine Aeronautiche Gabardini, Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico (CANT), Blériot, Breda, and Agusta.

At the outbreak of World War I, he volunteered for military service as a lieutenant in the Bersaglieri, the elite Italian infantry corps.

[5] Subsequently designed for the Airline Aero Espresso the Titano, a giant seaplane of 12 tons.

[7] In 1933 Marshal Italo Balbo, Minister of the Italian Air Force, contacted Blériot to ask if Dr. Filippo Zappata could be released from the French contract so that he could work in Italy again.

Blériot agreed, with the understanding that Zappata acted as a consultant for the final work on the postal seaplane Santos Dumont.

This aircraft was a complete success beating world distance records and Zappata was awarded the Légion d'Honneur by the French Government.

[8] At CANT, Zappata designed a series of successful multi-engined seaplanes such as the CANT Z.501 Gabbiano flying boat and the CANT Z.506 Airone floatplane.

At the beginning of 1942, the Società Italiana Ernesto Breda, idle after the failure of its Ba.88, offered him the post of chief aeronautical engineer.

[15] The signing of the Armistice of Cassibile in September 1943, the subsequent occupation of the Italian peninsula by the Wehrmacht, and the almost total destruction of the Breda aircraft factory on 30 April 1944 by U.S. bombers, ensured that none of the new projects launched by Zappata during the latter stages of World War II were realized.

[17] Although flight testing went well and despite orders from India, Argentina and Persia, the project was abandoned due to pressure from the Allies for Italy to refrain from competing in civilian aircraft manufacture.