Frecce Tricolori season's first display – Rivolto May 1, 2009

On May 1, 2009, the traditional Frecce Tricolori’ season’s opening, held each year at Rivolto, became a sort of mini-airshow enriched by the presence of the RSV (Reparto Sperimentale Volo) displays. In fact, since the annual Giornata Azzurra (held each year at Pratica di Mare airbase) was canceled due to budget cuts, the Aeronautica Militare (Italian Air Force, ItAF) decided to bring up an open day including also the 311° Gruppo Volo’s displays of the AMX, the Tornado, the C-27J and the Eurofighter Typhoon, a CSAR event involving an HH-3F of the 15° Stormo and an AB.212ICO of the 9° Stormo, and a static display.

Here’s the list of visiting aircraft:
P-180 (14° Stormo) MM62202
Falcon 900EX MM62244
C-130J-30 46-58 MM62192
B767CTA N606TW
A-319CJ MM62209

Four military aircraft were in static display:
F-2000A 4-15 MM7293
AMX (ACOL) 51-55 MM7168: on the left side of the rudder had a sticker applied by the 3 RMV with the text “3° RMV I.P. XII/2002” and UNI EN ISO 9002 certification logo
F-16ADF MM7251 23° Gruppo Special Colour
Tornado ECR 50-01 MM7021: with Link 16 badge

Displays:
C-27J RS-50 N.C. 119 CSX 62219
HH-3F 15-29 MM81341 + AB-212ICO “ISAF” MM81161
AMX RS-14 MM7172: had Buscaglia text on the upper side of both wings, 132° Gruppo logo on the air intakes and RSV badge on the tail
Tornado RS-01 MM7014
F-2000A 4-13 MM7280: with 311° Gruppo Volo badge next to the display pilot’s name
10 MB-339 Frecce Tricolori: the only aricraft wearing an MM was “Pony 8” with MM54551

Matteo Marianeschi attended the Rivolto show, provided a detailed report and took the following pictures.





















About David Cenciotti
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.