02/08/2026. Remarks by Johan Visschedijk: "Owing much to the SVA (including a shortened fuselage) , the A.1 Balilla (Hunter) single-seat fighter was flown for the first time on November 30, 1917, but lacking the agility of its contemporaries it was manufactured in only limited quantities, a total of 166 Balillas being built in 1918. These were confined to home defense tasks, and 75 were supplied to Poland in 1920-1921, a further 50 being license-built by Plage & Laskiewicz at Lublin.
The Balillia was of wooden construction and carried an armament of two synchronized 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers guns. The power plant was either the 205 hp Società Piemontese Automobili 6A six-cylinder liquid-cooled in-line engine or the 220 hp semi-supercharged version of this engine, while the A.1bis was fitted with a similar 250 hp Isotta-Fraschini V6 engine.
After WW I Balillias were sold to the air forces of Latvia (13), Mexico (1), and Russia (30)."
