In 1905, Alessandro Anzani, a 28-year-old Italian living in France, was a cyclist interested in making his bicycle go faster. He began developing light, air cooled engines that powered his motorcycles to racing success. In 1908, Anzani was one of many inspired to explore aviation after the Wright Brothers demonstrated their airplane throughout Europe. His ability to design light but powerful engines was ideal for early aircraft where every extra pound could make a a design too heavy…
In 1905, Alessandro Anzani, a 28-year-old Italian living in France, was a cyclist interested in making his bicycle go faster. He began developing light, air cooled engines that powered his motorcycles to racing success. In 1908, Anzani was one of many inspired to explore aviation after the Wright Brothers demonstrated their airplane throughout Europe. His ability to design light but powerful engines was ideal for early aircraft where every extra pound could make a a design too heavy to fly. In 1909, Louis Bleriot installed a 3-cyclinder Anzani on the Type XI monoplane he used for the first successful flight across the English Channel.