The highlights of the Spotter Day held on June 20, 2008, at Cervia airbase to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the 23° Gruppo were the F-16ADF MM7251 painted in a special colour scheme (since, most probably, it will be the first and only F-16 “Special Colour” in ItAF service) and the preserved F-104S (it is actually an ASA-M) MM6940/5-30, wearing the old codes and markings used by the 23° Gruppo when the Squadron and its parent unit (the 5° Stormo) were based in Rimini.
Here you can find some photographs this Author has taken at Cervia.
More pictures of the Spotter Day and the full log of the partecipating aircraft here.
David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.
Historic aircraft from across the world joined the types in service today in Pratica di Mare, for an airshow that showcased the 100 years of history and technological evolution of the Aeronautica Militare. The Aeronautica […]
The new special color is a two-seater TF-2000A, unveiled at Grosseto Air Base today. Chased by two special colored F-104 Starfighters (the “black beauty” F-104S/ASA-M of the 9° Gruppo and the TF-104G-M of the 20° […]