AirshowStuff Forums

The airshow's website and reservation system is no longer accessible outside of Italy. Similarly, QR codes are no longer visible on e-tickets when outside Italy, and the airshow app is now only available on the Italian version of the App Store.

Hopefully the e-tickets revert to normal either if the website is un-blocked, or when viewed using an Italian internet connection!

The website now specifies which aircraft are static and which are flying. The aircraft in the flying display are:

Former Italian Air Force
Caproni CA.3
SPAD VII-XIII
Spitfire Mk.V
P-38L Lightning
P-51D Mustang
Fiat G.46
T-6 Texan
P-47D Thunderbolt
CT-133 Silver Star (T-33)
CL-13B Sabre (F-86)
Fiat G.91R
Aermacchi MB-396E
Douglas DC-6B
TF-104G Starfighter

Current Italian Air Force
SIAI S.208
SIAI SF.260
Aeromacchi MB-339A
Tornado IDS
Bell HH-212
Falcon 50
AMX A-11 Ghibli
Hughes NH500
Falcon 900
P.180 Avanti
A319CJ
C-130J Super Hercules
F-2000 Typhoon
C-27J Spartan
MQ-9 Reaper
KC-767
HH-139
T-346A Master
F-35A Lightning II
HH-101 Ceasar
G550 CAEW
King Air 350 Spyder
F-35B Lightning II
ATR P-72A
Frecce Tricolori

Legend Formation
T-6 Texan
Aermacchi MB-326E
Aermacchi MB-326K
SIAI U.208A
SIAI SF.260
Aermacchi FT-339CD
T-346A Master

Additionally, although removed from the list, the Norwegian Historical Squadron has released photos of their Vampire FB.52 in Italian colours. I'd guess it's still planning to be at PdM and was removed from the website in error.

The website is now working again for those outside Italy.

Some interesting details that have become known recently:
- The Mustangs will fly a 3-ship, flown by the Horsemen
- The G.46s will also fly a three-ship
- The G.91 is still listed on the website, but is yet to make its first flight with just one week to go!
- The F-104 has arrived in Italy and is being re-assembled at Grosseto

The CA.3 flew today! In the nick of time.

Starfighter airborne!

I saw a video of the G.91 taxiing today!

Vintage Aviation News reports that it is "ready for the airshow", but as far as I can tell it still hasn't actually flown yet, and neither is it fully painted up in Frecce Tricolori colours yet, at least going by the footage of the taxy run released yesterday.

Special tail for the F-104. The G.91 has also now received its full Frecce Tricolori scheme.

Well, that was interesting. I expected amazing flying and a poor showground experience, but for me the reality was the opposite.

I know there were HUGE problems with parking and people getting stranded on the base until 11pm or later, but I used a (seemingly under-utilised) entry gate on the west side of the base and took public transport. 20 minutes to get in, 20 minutes to get out. The showground layout was odd with some pinch points and painfully loud commentary in most places, but I found a quiet area, in both senses of the word, at the southern end, and had nobody come within 20 paces of me all day. It was on a little hillock looking down towards the flightline and runway, over the heads of the people on the front line. And, being elevated, it caught a nice cool breeze all day too.

The flying was, with a few exceptions, not as good as I'd imagined it would be. Huge gaps (it could easily have been a 4hr show rather than 8), a lot of very distant displays, and the F-104 and G.91, while a real treat to see, made brief appearances that did not reflect the effort taken to get them here. 2 formation passes and 2 solo passes from each. However, things took a positive turn for the last 2hrs or so of the show. The Air Parade was brilliant, with some fantastic big mixed-type formations, and the Frecce Tricolori were nothing short of epic on home turf.

Above all, though, I really appreciate the effort the Italian AF put into doing something genuinely different and unique, rather than just inviting every other big aerobatic team in the world to come and fly, like most other air arms do to mark big anniversaries. If the show's mission was to tell the air force's story from start to finish, then it certainly achieved that.

I don't think I'll look back on this show as one of the greatest I have ever been to, but it was a very enjoyable day out and I am glad I made time to go. There will probably never be another airshow like it.

Anyway, here is a clip of the Starfighter. More videos to follow tomorrow.