Istrana preserved F-104

On Sept. 8, Matteo Marianeschi visited Istrana where he discovered the following preserved F-104G. According to the information he got during the visit by a pilot, the aircraft had arrived from Dal Molin Museum in Vicenza during the summer. The aircraft has a dual colour scheme: on the right side the aircraft wears the code 3-01 of the 132° Gruppo belonging to the Villafranca-based 3° Stormo; the left side wears the code 3-31 of the 28° Gruppo of the 3° Stormo. The weird thing is that on both side there’s the famous Strega (witch), 28° Gruppo emblem (and radio callsign). The aircraft is serialled MM6577, however this serial was reported in Cervia, even if a further visual check did not provide any confirmation of the 3-01/6577 being there. If the serial is authentic, the aircraft belonged to the 154° Gruppo of the 6° Stormo in Ghedi when the it made the last flight in 1982.

About David Cenciotti

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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.