Ali sopra le Ande Book Review

By David L. Veres

Review

Historian Amaru Tincopa deftly distills “A Hundred Years of Italian Aviation in Peru 1921-2021” in Ali sopra le Ande – from AviationArtHistory.com through Amazon KDP.

Spanning 224 illuminating pages, contents neatly divide into four sections:

• Peru’s immediate post-WWI use of Italian warplanes.
• Societa Aeroplani Caproni’s efforts to establish Peruvian maintenance, production, and design facilities.
• Interbellum Caproni aircraft in Peruvian service.
• Post-WWII Italian flying boats, trainers, and transports in Peru.

Aviation historians, enthusiasts, and modelers will love it. Coverage competently and thoroughly charts Italy’s fascinating impact on Peruvian aviation history: key personalities, political factors, economic issues, and aircraft types.

The picture-packed tome also sports hundreds of rare photos, close-up shots, drawings, and tech-manual extracts. Extended, explanatory captions amplify illustrations. And 19 color profiles further augment the effort.

I just wish Tincopa enlarged that unit badge on Caproni Ca.310 “XI-11-1”!

Intriguing revelations also season the study.

What actually happened to those six Caproni Ca.135 Tipo Peru bombers? How close did Peru come to acquiring or manufacturing Caproni-Vizzola F.5 fighters? And how did Caproni Ca.310s fare in Peru’s brief, bitter 1941 war with Ecuador?

Tincopa’s splendidly scrutinizes all. Make his superb survey your gateway to this terrific topic.

Footnotes, sources, and acknowledgments complete contents.

Rabidly recommended!

With thanks to AviationArtHistory.com for the review copy!