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On 5th April, the Italian Air Force retired the AMX, light attack plane serving since 1989. A phase-out ceremony was held in Istrana air base, home of the 51° Stormo, last unit flying the AMX. Since I was able to confirm my presence only few days before the event, I couldn't reserve a place for the ...

Exercise Poggio Dart 2023 took part from 4th to 15th December. Its aim was to prove the command and control capabilities of the Deployable Air Command & Control Centre (DACCC). Some of the participants were redeployed on Istrana air base. A spotter day was scheduled for 13th December (which, unfortu...

Those little MB's still going strong! And they will be for quite a few years! Only few M.345s were delivered as replacement, it will be a lot of time before they will be completely replaced. No pictures of operational Tornado? Nope, sorry... there were some parked with stairs next to them, but I pe...

On 4th November, anniversary of the end of World War 1 on the Italian Front, Italy celebrates the Armed Services and National Unity Day. On this day or in the nearest weekend it is customary to have open days in some military bases and public displays in major cities. Being the year of the 100th Ann...

My pics from the NATO Tiger Meet 2023. Take-off photos were taken on the late afternoon of Thursday 5th, when I was lucky enough to catch the take-off of almost all special color planes for the last photoflight of one of NTM's official photographers. Landing photos were taken during the Friday 6th s...

From 9th to 19th October Valbrembo, a small general aviation airport near Bergamo, Italy, hosted an Italian Air Force Aeronautical Culture Class. It is a class dedicated to 185 high school students that, after a theoretical part, have the chance to fly on Italian Air Force SIAI-Marchetti U-208 liais...

The city of Desenzano del Garda (on the shores of Lake Garda, Italy) hosted Airshow del Garda 2023 on Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th September. Desenzano was the host of the Reparto Sperimentale Alta Velocità (Experimental High Speed Detachment), which tested the seaplanes which would have been used f...

With the Jesolo Air Show fumes still in my lungs, the following day I attended 21st Mario Stoppani Memorial Airshow. It is an event held every year in Lovere, on the northern tip of Lake Iseo in Italy, to commemorate fighter Ace and test pilot Mario Stoppani, born here in 1895. The day was opened in...

Trip to Jesolo Air Show 2023, one of the most important seaside airshows in Italy, organized in Jesolo, a popular holiday location near Venice. The show was opened by a Police AgustaWestland UH-139E... https://www.golfvictorspotting.it/coppfold/albums/userpics/10001/_MG_7285_020923.jpg ...and by a C...

10 year have passed since the first time I attended the FlyParty (technically 11, but I don't count the 2012 edition where I stayed for just an hour). Here are my photos from my 7th time at the Historical Aircraft Group yearly fly-in, held on 24th and 25th June in Bagnoli di Sopra airfield near Padu...

Summer 1998. I was almost 10 years old, and my parents bought me an issue of Rivista Aeronautica, the official Italian Air Force Magazine, because I suddenly became interested in airplanes when my father brought me to an airshow the year before. Enclosed with the magazine there was a VHS about Giorn...

The F-104 performed 2 test flights in Grosseto yesterday, and I was able to get there for the spotter day organized by the base! Some rumours about the G.91 flying today are circulating on Whatsapp, but no official confirmation yet. EDIT: turned out there were just taxi runs. It did not fly. For tho...

According to a slideshow circulating on Italian Whatsapp spotters groups, spotters will be on the opposite side of the runway on friday only, so with the sun at our backs.

Today the Caproni Ca.3 replica returned to the air, so it is likely it will partecipate to the airshow.

According to an unofficial post on a F-104 Facebook fan group, the TF-104G N991SF "Black Beauty" is currently en route towards Italy on board an Italian Air Force C-130. The post says it will be re-assembled in Grosseto airbase (former F-104 base). It is unclear whether it will be re-based in Pratic...