A nascent museum with aircraft and helicopters maintained in flight conditions, the opportunity to take stock of the present and future projects of the military base of San Damiano di Piacenza with the institutions of the Piacenza area, the announcement of the promotion of the international aerostatic competition ” Aeronautica Militare Balloon Cup”, which will be held on the airport in October. These are the reasons for a special day in which the Frecce Tricolori also participated for a training session. To enrich the collection of the flying museum of the Air Force, the arrival of the last AMX aircraft, airplanes withdrawn from service after 35 years last week with the “phase out” ceremony. These were added to the Tornado, the HH-212 helicopter and the Fiat G91 in Frecce Tricolori livery put back into flight last year on the occasion of the celebrations of the Centenary of the Arma Azzurra, today the flying fleet of the Museum set up inside the Detachment Piacenza Airport.
The event was an opportunity to illustrate to local institutions and businesses, professionals and media representatives the present and future plans of the base currently commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Salvatore Occini. The Gaetano Mazza military airport, although no longer the operational base of the Tornadoes, remains an important garrison at the service of the Air Force and the community, and for some time its renewed tasks have included the recovery and valorisation of the historical aeronautical heritage. There are many famous “pieces” present and still to be restored, such as an F-104 Starfighter retired in 2004 and a very rare SIAI S56 from 1924. Thanks to the skills and passion of its specialized staff, and in collaboration with a group of civilian technicians, in 2023 the complex restoration of the Fiat G-91 has already been completed, which for the occasion roared again on the apron of the flight line. Air Squadron General Francesco Vestito, Commander of the First Air Region, who presided over the The event, in greeting the authorities and guests who attended, wanted to reiterate “the centrality and importance of the Piacenza base for the Air Force. A base” added Vestito “that is fully operational and remains strategic in the plans of the Armed Forces as a possible deployment base for operational activities, training and exercises, as well as for research, development and testing activities in the aeronautical and automotive sectors thanks the use of airport facilities and synergies already in place with institutional, university and industrial entities”. Among the projects that the Armed Forces are evaluating and studying to project themselves towards an increasingly dual use of the Piacenza military airport is that of a “flying museum” which in the future will be able to allow aviation enthusiasts and historians of the sector to admire , even in flight, airplanes and helicopters that have characterized the centenary history of the Air Force.
This “design hypothesis”, for which a specific feasibility study was launched, was presented during the event by Air Division General Luigi Del Bene, commander of the Combat Forces, who explained: “The key word of possible museum is sustainability and around this we are working to understand how to expand the potential of a department which already has the valorisation of the historical aeronautical heritage in its mission and which in perspective, thanks to synergies with the territory, to our skills and using technologies advanced and immersive, we plan to develop further in an integrated manner with the other museums of the Armed Forces”. He obviously refers to the renewed Musam of Vigna di Valle (Rome).
On this occasion, the first Aeronautica Militare Balloon Cup was also promoted in Piacenza, a one-of-a-kind international aerostatic competition that will take place at San Damiano airport from 11th to 13th October. Lieutenant Colonel Angelo Carusone, head of the Brand and Media division of Difesa Servizi SpA, the Ministry of Defense company that manages and enhances the assets of the ministry, who created the competition in collaboration with the Air Force. Despite an aerostatic history as important as the Italian one, the I-Oecm of Aeronord Aerostati, present at the airport, remains the only gas balloon registered in our country, a true technical rarity on which a large representation of students from schools of all levels of the province of Piacenza was able to climb slow ascents while waiting for the performance of the Frecce Tricolori.
Tags: life San Damiano military air base Piacenza
