Pedro Zanni

Pedro Leandro Zanni (12 March 1891, Pehuajó – 29 January 1942, Campo de Mayo) was a pioneering Argentinian pilot of the early 20th century who made the then longest west-to-east flight in a non-amphibious aircraft in his circumnavigation attempt of 1924.

4 in the first class of army aviators, an achievement he shared with 1st Lt Raúl Eugenio Goubat and engineers Jorge Newbery and Alberto Roque Mascías.

Zanni attempted a crossing of the Andes mountain range in a Morane-Saulnier monoplane on 13 February 1917 but engine failure forced an emergency landing at Punta de Vacas in which the plane was destroyed.

In February 1919, Zanni performed the first official aerial transport of correspondence in Argentina, linking El Palomar and Camet, near Mar del Plata.

On 7 December 1922, Zanni asked the Aero Club Argentino to sponsor him in a project to travel around the world in an airplane, for which the Pro-World Tour Commission was established, presided over by Baron Antonio de Marchi, who organized a public collection for the purpose of acquiring an aircraft, spare parts, maps, etc.

They resumed in a replacement of the same type, but fitted with floats, and renamed Provincia de Buenos Aires, which was recorded landing on Hong Kong Harbour on 22 September.

Zanni is honoured by streets named after him in Ituzaingó, La Tablada, El Palomar, Manuel Alberti and Paraná, among other localities, provinces and municipalities.