PBA Galleries

Gelatin silver prints. Most are of Nobile and/or with others, 2 are of his dirigible, The Norge, in flight. Each 4½x6¾" from the same series.

Col. Umberto Nobile (1885–1978) the Italian aeronautical engineer and Arctic explorer. He is best remembered for having piloted the airship Norge, the first aircraft both to reach the North Pole, and to cross the polar ice cap between Europe and America. In 1925, Nobile and Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen began planning a Polar flight to the North Pole. After a series of test flights, the N-1 was handed over on March 29, 1926 and re-christened Norge (Norway). Despite a report on May 9 that Richard E. Byrd and Floyd Bennett had reached the Pole ahead of them (this claim has since been disputed), two days later the expedition left for the Pole. This "Rome to Nome" flight resulted in controversy between Nobile and Amundsen as to who deserved the credit for the expedition.