Giuseppe Mario Bellanca was an Italian-American aviation pioneer, airplane designer and builder, who is credited with many design firsts and whose aircraft broke many aviation records. He was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1973.
Bellanca graduated with an engineering degree from the Milan Polytechnic and in 1911 came to the United States. In 1917 he designed and built the first enclosed-cabin monoplane, which succeeded in air races. After World War I, Chamberlin , his friend flew a Bellanca plane on the first transatlantic flight with a passenger to set a new long-distance record, from New York City to Eisleben, Ger. Bellanca planes were favourites of long-distance flyers in the late 1920s and early 1930s. In 1931 a Bellanca plane made the first Japan-to-U.S. nonstop flight.

The Bellanca Aircraft Company specialized in making executive private planes. Bellanca became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1929. After selling his company in 1954, he remained active in design and construction with Bellanca Aircraft Engineering, which he operated with his son.