BERNHARD C.F. KLEIN MEMORIAL COLLECTION
No. 6204. Ansaldo A.1 Balilla
Photograph via Jean M. Cuny
02/28/2007. Remarks by
Bernhard Klein: "In mid-1917 Ansaldo
began construction of a single seat fighter with a shortened SVA
fuselage, an in-line SPA 6 engine and vertical radiator. Modern
sources state the first flight was on 11/30/1917. Various
modifications were made and eventually the A.1 entered service in
late 1918. About 100 A.1s were built but very few made it to front
line squadrons. Besides Italy, it als saw service, after the war, in
Polish, Latvian, Russian and Mexican air forces."