This is a little piece of the G.18V : During the Thirties the Italian civil aviation began re-equipping with aircraft of national conception, after a fairly long time-span during which aircraft from the Dornier, Fokker and Junkers factories had had a primary role in the supply of commercial transport machines.The contemporary American production, including Douglas's D.C.1, D.C.2 and, naturally, the D.C.3 had of course an influence upon Italian designers, in particular upon ingegner Giuseppe Gabrielli who had been able to personally study the progress achieved by technology on the other side of the Atlantic ocean. While Savoia Marchetti’s three engine aircraft were fulfilling Ala Littoria’s requirements, Avio Linee Italiane were availing themselves of the aeronautical industry by which they were being supported. Thus, the A.P.R.2 (Aereo Postale Rosatelli), an ingegner Rosatelli’s little twin-engine 9-seater, built in a single example only, was being operated in 1936 on the Turin-Rome route, but was soon followed by Gabrielli's G.18, a more capable and heavier twin engine machine. In the Venice-Milan-Turin-Paris-London route (started in June 1938), the A.L.I.'s G.18Vs established a direct connection of England with Italy and proved to be one of the fastest commercial aircraft of the time (the whole route was covered in seven and half hours). The G.18V were reliable machines and showed a good operational efficiency.
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