Mario Pezzi (aviator)

Mario Pezzi (9 November 1898 – 26 August 1968) was an Italian aviator known worldwide for his flight in which he achieved greater height than any other pilot in a propeller-powered airplane.

Pezzi is rightly considered an aeronautics and astronautics pioneer in Italy not only for his altitude records: he was the man who chose Luigi Broglio to lead the ITAF Ammunition Research Unit, responsible for rockets and missiles research, leading the way to future space exploration in Italy.

Pezzi established his record above Montecelio (Rome) aboard a Caproni Ca.161 biplane with a Piaggio motor and pressurised airtight cabin, wearing a special pressure suit picture and reaching a height of 17,083 m (56,047 ft).

Pezzi wore a special electrically heated pressurized suit and an airtight helmet, just like a modern astronaut.

In those years Americans, Germans, English and French fought for this record, and Italy entered the contest with 14,433 m (47,355 ft) in 1934 from Donates on his Caproni Ca.113 with a Pegaso motor.

[4] As a young man, Pezzi had entered a career in aeronautics, becoming a pilot, and in 1934 he had been named commander of the unit for the record flight from Montecelio.