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If you were looking for one of world’s most read military aviation blogger, you have just found him. My bio can be read in the “About” page and my works can be found in the “in the News/Citation” page.
In addition to writing more than 730 articles and 110+ pages on this blog (that has recorded more than 1.2 million unique visitors from all around the world in 2011 only), I’ve been writing hundreds articles for the major worldwide aviation magazines since 1996.
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Ciao David,
my name is Lino von Gartzen, since a while i’m doing some research for sunken aircraft in Germany, Italy and french. My “first” wreck i visited was 10 years ago a SM 79. This wreck was the beginning of my patience. Some days ago i found the very interesting pictures of the SM 79 on yor website. May i use them for a small article on my website about this wreck? Of course including all credits.
Another question: Until now, i was only working with german, us, french and brittish archives, whats about archives in italy for aircraft losses in ww II. For this wreck i was diving to, i have perhaps already a very narrow time window for the crash.
Greetings from bavaria
Lino
Hi David,
I was doing some research and I ran across your excellent website today and I thought I would ask you a question. I had heard that the Italian Aviation Authority imposed a new requirement on experimental helicopters that requires pilots to have 200 hours in an experimental helicopter before the Italian authority will issue a license. All of the relevant information is, naturally, in Italian. I was wondering if you knew anything about this requirement and, if so, where can I find out more about this issue? Any help would be much appreciated.
Best Regards,
William Adams
Hi William,
I’ve checked the documents issued by the Italian Civil Aviation
Authority (ENAC) and did not find anything related to a requirement of
200 fh on experimental helicopters.
I’ve checked the following doc:
http://www.enac-italia.it/repository/contentmanagement/information/p555488909/reg-collaudatori.pdf
that was updated on June 25, 2009.
The only requirements contained in the regulation are:
- valid CPL/IR (in this case minimum requirement 1500 fh, 500 of which
as PIC) or ATPL licence
- successful completion of the ENAC courses
Hope this helps,
Best Regards,
David
Ciao David,mi chiamo Marco,dopo aver letto molto dei tuoi articoli ho deciso di scriverti anche io,devo farti veramente i miei complimenti per i tuoi report.Sono un ammiratore per chiunque abbia avuto a che fare con l’F 104,sono gia un pò di anni che ho in mente un progetto,quello di ricostruire il cockpit dello spillone,e la parte più difficile è quella di recuperare la cellula esterna,intendo la sezione che va dal vano avionica fino al cono,con questa mail volevo chiederti,se puoi,una dritta nella sua ricerca…
Ti ringrazio anticipatamente,e ancora complimenti per la tua vita e per le emozioni che trasmettono le tue parole…
Ciao Marco,
ti ringrazio dei complimenti, mi fa molto piacere che tu sia un appassionato di F-104 che ha trovato nei miei lavori qualcosa di interessante. Per quel che concerne il tuo progetto, non credo sia una cosa molto semplice. Paradossalmente è più facile trovare un aereo intero che una parte (e che parte) del velivolo. Ad ogni modo potresti provare a rivolgerti alla ditta Bentivoglio di Roma che esegue demolizioni e che dispone di un certo numero di F-104 in vendita. Credo che oltre a vendere i velivoli loro possano anche tagliare la parte che ti serve. Qui trovi qualche foto e il link al sito della ditta: http://cencio4.wordpress.com/2007/10/12/bentivoglio-scrapyard/
Tienimi al corrente degli sviluppi del progetto!
A presto,
David
MY FRIEND.ON THE SITE MALABAR PRINCESS I GIVE MY MAIL AND MY TELEPHONE FOR INDIAN FAMILY DEAD IN CRASHS KANCHENJUNGA AND MALABAR PRINCESS.SPEAK IN FRENCH? YOU CAN CALL IN LYON IN FRANCE AT TELEPHONE HOUSE 04 74 72 13 83 AND PORTABLE 06 08 31 54 15 THANK YOU/I FIVE TONNES OF PIECES AT LYON IN TWO HOUSES!!!!!
please,you can see blog conspiration fly air india david cenciotti and mr loffredi take contact for mail on you;congratulations;this week,i to go give inscriptions a steel military found in the mt blanc;i think missile or military airplane perahps a tank;my mail is for contact jdroche@orange.fr
Hello David.
Was wondering if you could help me track down some information on WW2 Italian Warbirds. Specifically Serie 0 through Serie 5 fighters from Macchi, Reggiane, and Fiat. Speed data is fairly easy to come by but detailed information regarding rate of roll and rate of turn has proven exceedingly difficult to come by. For that matter any detailed chart has proven difficult to track down.
If you could point me in the right direction it would make my day :).
Hi Ron,
it is quite difficult to answer to your question. I don’t have those aircraft’s handbook and I don’t think I can find those information on the books I own. But will have a try.
If the check fails there’s one possibility: to arrange a visit to the Italian Air Force Historical Office. There’s everything you’r looking for and the personnel working there can help you tracking down anything you are looking for.
http://www.aeronautica.difesa.it/storiaTradizione/ufficioStorico/Pagine/OrarioVisite.aspx
Best Regards,
David
Thanks David, just another reason to visit Italy. The Smithsonian sent me these that may interest you. I had never seen this information presented in official format before. Pretty interesting, enjoy :).
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s186/madrebel/g55report1.jpg
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s186/madrebel/g55report2.jpg
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s186/madrebel/g56report1.jpg
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s186/madrebel/g56report2.jpg
Ai gentili lettori di questa Sezione del sito e alla Direzione del medesimo:
per una mia prossima pubblicazione sul Vietnam sarei lieto di contattare il generale in pensione Franco Pisano che abita a Milano e che nel 1968 era a Saigon. Vorreste essere così gentili, se lo conoscete, da mettermi in contatto con lui via email o con indirizzo postale? Vi ringrazio per la Vostra gentilezza e saluto cordialmente. Diiego Verdegiglio 334.3595873; 06.39728489; dv52@libero.it
Ciao David, prima di tutto complimenti per il tuo bellissimo sito…sono un appassionato centoquattrista e lo trovo molto, molto interessante.
Sono un pò preoccupato dopo aver letto l’articolo sulla radioattività dei cockpit con strumenti “ad orologio”, avevo letto una cosa simile ma molto piu blanda…forse si riferiva al Kappone, nn ricordo….
posseggo un cruscotto completo di F-104G (superiore, inferiore, consolles laterali etc..) quindi ti chiedevo lumi…..avevo pensato di farlo controllare da un amico nei VVFF in via privata……tu che ne pensi?
Ti ringrazio anticipatamente.
Ciao Fede,
non è il caso di allarmarsi “preventivamente”. Hai qualche informazione in più circa il velivolo dal quale i tuoi componenti provengono? Quello permetterebbe di valutare molti aspetti degli strumenti utilizzati, non ultimo, la data di fabbricazione. Inoltre, darei un’occhiata ai vari strumenti: quelli che hanno dei componenti fluorescenti il cui colore non è proprio bianco, ma tendente al giallo, potrebbero essere a rischio, ma considera che in molti casi, in Italia, quelli nei quali era utilizzato il Radio avevano la dicitura “Scade Radium”. Magari, se vuoi, puoi mandarmi una mail (il mio indirizzo lo trovi nella colonna di destra, nella homepage) con qualche foto del cockpit e potrei provare a darti una mano nella valutazione del livello di rischio, fermo restando che un controllo lo farei al tuo amico, o lo fare autonomamente acquistando un contatore Geiger tipo quello che ho utilizzato io nelle mie verifiche. Ad ogni modo, a meno che tu non ci dorma, o non lo abbia proprio in prossimità dei luoghi in cui passi la maggior parte del tempo, non dovresti essere esposto ad un livello preoccupante di radiazioni.
A presto e grazie per i complimenti,
David
Hello,
Your writing, coverage and photos are excellent, marks of a professional.I’m from the USA and appreciate your writing in English — giving a fresh perspective over here.
I write a small blog which is about aviation museums and a bit of aeronautical history every now and then. It’s called “Travel for Aircraft” (http://travelforaircraft.wordpress.com/) in case you may be interested in looking into it.
I especially enjoyed seeing your coverage of the ItAF Museum in Vigna di Valle. The Macchi C.200 is gorgeous and there are examples in the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum (which you have covered) as well as the US Air Force Museum. I hunger to see the Macchi M.C.72, the Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 and the Cant Z-506S Airone — especially in Vigna di Valle.
Thank you again for your photojournalism and posts,
Joe May
Hi Joe,
thank you very much for your kind message. I took the opportunity to visit your website that I found extremely interesting.
I think that the ItAF Museum in Vigna di Valle is worth a visit. I visit it quite regularly and visited it again the last week, to see that new exhibits are added each time.
Best Regards,
David
Egr. Sig. Cenciotti,
Siamo Aviolibri di Roma. Vorremmo sapere come poter reperire qualche copia del suo libro “Italian Starfighters”. La preghiamo di contattarci telefonicamente allo 06-4452275 oppure tramite e-mail.
La ringraziamo
Distinti saluti
AVIOLIBRI
Hi David,
I contacted you about public transportation before going to Italy. I can now report that it is possible. Take the #9 train from Termini Station in Rome to the end of the line at Broccaino. Then take a taxi to Vigna del Valle. There was no taxi on Sunday so we had to walk about 8 km..
We hitched a ride back to Broccaino with a retired Altalia 747 captain.
Nice mueseum & nice people.
Cheers!
Tom
Ciao David!My name is Alex Carbonell from Mallorca.I bought last week your book about the italian starfighters and is Fantastyc,amazing and beautiful.Congratulations for your book David.I love this plane since I was younger and I saw the right stuff with the Sr-71 or the A-10 and others.Also I think is amazing to see and airforce using this beautiful plane if you compare with others using modern warplanes like f-18,f-22, f-15,mig-29,Jas-39…..Is cool the pictures of your book since the first plane until the last flight in Granizze.Thanks a lot to lt me complete with your book in my aviation collection since i was a young child.
See you soon!
Ciao David,
e complimenti per il sito!
Scrivo per chiederti informazioni sui C-130 dell’AMI.
Vorrei sapere, in particolare, quali sono le rotte che volano per andare verso l’Afghanistan: sono rotte dirette o fanno scalo da qualche parte?
Inoltre, sono stati impiegati in qualche altro teatro particolare di recente (per es. il terremoto ad Haiti)?
Grazie!
Giacomo – RM
Ciao Giacomo,
grazie dei complimenti innanzitutto.
Mah, qualche info sulle rotte per l’Afghanistan la trovi su un mio articolo del 2002 che ne parlava nell’ambito di un servizio sugli shuttle flights dei C-130 dell’AM:
http://cencio4.wordpress.com/works/a-kabul-con-i-c-130-dell%E2%80%99aeronautica-militare/
E’ probabile che qualcosa sia cambiato nel frattempo.
Per quanto riguarda i teatri di operazioni: ti confermo Haiti, ma anche l’Africa o l’Alaska (per il supporto ai Tornado impegnati nella Distant Frontier/Red Flag).
Ciao
David
Ciao David,
grazie (con moltissimo ritardo, perdonami, ma non ho più visitato il tuo sito) per la risposta sugli Hercules!
Sto realizzando un addon freeware per Flight Simulator con gli F-16 italiani, e volevo chiederti conferma sulle matricole.
Queste sono le registrazioni in mio possesso, alle quali sono risalito dalle foto disponibili
In servizio
[....]
15) MM????http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd80/cenciotti/2010/Vega%202010/Lowpassage/Vega2010_167.jpg
Cosa manca? (sempre se non chiedo troppo!)
Grazie e a presto!
Giacomo
Ciao Giacomo,
quello della foto che non riuscivi a vedere è il 42. Ti manca solo il 62 che si vede nelle foto della Vega 2010 (vai su http://lowpassage.com per vederle tutte).
David
Grazie mille!
Hello,
I am carrying out research into the Kosovo conclict and was hoping you would be able to assist me with details of the italian air forces role. Specificially I am looking for information on the Tornado aircraft.
Can you tell me how many sorties were flown by the:
Air defence tornado
Tornado IDS
Tornado ECR
can you also provide me with information on the number and type of weapons used by these aircraft?
I am also looking for information on the number of missions carried out by Italian Tornado aircraft in Afghanisatn
Kind regards
Graeme
Hi
I am in South Africa and follow the Libyan conflict with interest. The local news coverage of what is happening in Libya is very limited and biased, and I find your blog very useful and interesting. Thank you for good writing
Ciao David,
sto seguendo con molto interesse il tuo blog sulle operazioni in Libia. E’ praticamente l’unica fonte dettagliata e significativa, quasi real-time. Ti faccio i miei complimenti.
Vorrei farti una domanda : cosa pensi del fatto che gli inglesi abbiano usato i Tornado con Storm Shadow per attaccare giorni fa il deposito di munizioni bunkerizzato (40 bunker = 40 Storm Shadow + Tomahawk contro le difese aere circostanti = un sacco di soldi). Un attacco stand-off molto spettacolare ma in termini costo-efficacia non sarebbero bastate delle semplici Paveway IV (con testata BLU), dato che la difesa aerea libica era già fortemente degradata (per non dire = 0), dopo il “first strike”. grazie
Ciao Roberto,
ti ringrazio dei complimenti.
Per quel che riguarda l’utilizzo dei missili Storm Shadow, in effetti credo sia un pò al limite del rapporto costo/efficacia dell’operazione. E’ stato probabilmente un modo per mettere alla prova la RAF in missioni di attacco a lungo raggio (dopo peraltro averlo fatto durante i primissimi raid). Anche se in effetti molti considerano l’intervento in Libia, né più né meno un grande airshow, o un’esercitazione con utilizzo Live dei missili, diciamo che l’utilizzo delle armi stand-off in questo caso era probabilmente giustificato dalla presenza o dal sospetto della presenza nell’area di SAM mobili o MANPADS. Evidentemente, i target erano noti ed identificati a priori e l’utilizzo dello Storm Shadow garantiva un minimo di sorpresa e garantiva la sicurezza della piattaforma di lancio (ovvero dei Tornado).
Ciao
David
Hi David,
You’re doing a great job in supplying information about the war in Libya to us around the world who support the revolution. I’m stumped on one question however and don’t seem to be able to find an answer. And I think the whole world is wondering about this. Nato’s task is to defend the citizens where they are being attacked, which is primaarily in Misurata, and we are told they have 195 planes at their disposal. Yet, given their main task, why do we hear of only a few strikes in Misurata, only every few days? There’s something huge missing. Either we aren’t being told something, or they’re not doing their job for some reason. I know that many of the planes are only doing N0-fly-zone patrols, and that of the remaining planes, some do not find strikable targets. But so few strikes at Misurata which is being pounded and invaded every day is mystifying. The targets are obviously there and easy to find. And NATO has bombed targets in urban areas so that can’t be stopping them, and where the tanks and rockets are there are no citizens, as the locals keep trying to tell NATO. Can you help us with this huge mystery.
It’s a sort of mistery to me too but I’ve already tried to explain my point of view in one of my previous daily debriefs.
On average, as you can read in my reports, 60 air strikes are flown by the NATO, but just a few end with bombs being dropped to ground targets. Hence, the problem must be on the ROE and/or on a clear and certain identification of targets. With Gaddafi’s forces hiding in urban areas and using human shields it must be difficult for NATO aircraft to be sure they are aiming at the correct target without the help of trained ground JTACs that describe the target, estimate distance between enemy and friendly forces, and help pilots avoiding blue-on-blue fire.
However, there’s also a general lack of strategy, the UNSCR doesn’t foresee boots on ground but airplanes are flying sort-of CAS missions supporting unprepared ground forces that are not in two-way radio contact with the planes. A difficult scenario for any pilot and an extremely diffult situation to deal with if you are about to drop a 500 lbs LGB in the middle of a besieged town when enemies are hiding among civilians….
Ok, this should explain why NATO is not hitting in or around Misratah, but it doesn’t explain why it is not striking with the expected intensity the supply lines and heavy calibers that should be clearly detectable.
Thanks for your reply, David. Yes I do remember reading that debrief, and that explained things for me then. But since then I’ve been worrying about the continual inflow of heavy calibers to Misrata that seem to have no problem arriving in abundance, and also the rockets fired from a distance, not from inside the residencial areas, at least I assume not.
One other thing, I read a day or two ago that a government helicopter had been seen above Misrata for several hours, presumably spotting targets for the loyalists. It would have to be high enough to not be hit by RPGs so it would seem that it should be detectable by radar. At least NATO could be patrolling above Misrata for the no-fly-zone if they aren’t going to do any strikes, it would seem. (I found this in an interview either in Aljezeera or the excellent libyafeb17.com website, out of Benghazi.)
I did see video today of communication equipment on technicals in the Ajdabya area that was said to be able to communicate directly with the NATO arcraft, which, if true, is a big step in the right direction. Hopefully Misurata fighters will be getting it soon then.
After posting the above comment, I read your excellent debrief for today in which you mention a helicopter destroyed in Misratah area, probably the one I mentioned above. Great!!
Thanks for reproducing the Washington Post article, which I would have missed, and which explains the drastic drop in strikes. If they are trying to make their low supply of bombs last, it makes sense that they don’t waste each on one tank, but go for the most “bang for the buck”, literally, by dropping them on ammo dumps, etc instead.
I was glad to read your comment at the bottom of the article, because you seemed to directly contradict the thrust of the article, denying that the British and French aircraft are incompatilbe with the American bombs. Where does that leave us? Is, then, the article not true, and is actually just a piece of fiction made to calm the frustrated mobs? Again, I don’t understand.
But I’m looking forward to the first impact on the battlefield of those Millan anti-tank missiles the fighters should be starting to use about now, unless the training period is a bit longer. It seems to me it should have a big impact in the streets of Misurata.
Mr. Cenciotti,
I ran across this blog in the opening hours of Odyssey dawn and have been a reader since. Job well done sir your posts are always excellent.