What is "balbo"

Balbo was a common term in the late 1930s and early 1940s to describe any large formation of aircraft. It was named after the Italian fascist flying ace Italo Balbo who led a series of large aircraft formations in record-breaking flights to promote Italian aviation in the 1930s.

During the Battle of Britain the term was used for the Big Wings that were based at RAF Duxford.

Balbo and may refer to:

• Balbo (surname)
• Balbo (aircraft formation), a sort of big formation of aircraft
• Balbo's Game, a chess variant invented by M. Monsieur G. Balbo in 1974
• Balbo sabretooth, Evermannella balbo, a species of fish, a sabertooth of the family Evermannellidae
• Balbau (also, Bal’bo and Bol’bay), a village in the Astara Rayon of Azerbaijan

Balbo is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:

• Abel Balbo (born 1966), Argentine football manager
• Cesare Balbo (1789-1853), Count of Vinadio, Italian writer and statesman
• Ennio Balbo (1922–1989), Italian film actor
• Italo Balbo (1896-1940), Italian Blackshirt leader, Italy's Marshal of the Air Force, Governor-General of Libya and Commander-in-Chief of Italian North Africa
• Julien Balbo (born 1979), French squash player
• Ned Balbo (born 1959), American poet, translator and essayist