History

In March 1904, the Italian Aeronautical Society (S.A.I.) was founded in Milan with the aim of promoting and stimulating Italians’ interest in flight activities. The following year, in Paris on October 12, 1905, the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (F.A.I.) was established, gathering a board of seven countries — Italy, Belgium, France, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, and the USA — with the intention of "methodically catalogue the best performances achieved, so that they be known to everybody; to identify their distinguishing features so as to permit comparisons to be made". The aeronautical scene at that time was in great ferment and evolving rapidly through the formation of new associations.