This year marks the sixtieth anniversary of the Frecce Tricolori. An important milestone, which must be seen as a result of the entire Air Force and must be a pride for the entire country. Over the years, the Group dedicated to aerobatic flight has been able to express, in perfect harmony, high technology, professionalism and the ability to work in a team in an excellent way, with a typically Italian connotation of humanity and style. The National Aerobatic Team (PAN) represents the splendid mosaic of all the operational realities that make up the Air Force.
The National Aerobatic Team is certainly the best known department of the Air Force in the world, which has been able to capitalize on the experience of the past, achieving exceptional results.
The 313 ° Acrobatic Training Group, this is the official name of the Frecce Tricolori, is a flight department of the Air Force made up of about one hundred soldiers including Officers, NCOs and Graduates. The formation of 10 aircraft, 9 plus that of the soloist, is made up of pilots from the flight operational departments of the Air Force who, following selection, become part of the National Aerobatic Team; here they spend a parenthesis of their operational career and then return to the Departments at the end of the experience. The remaining personnel belonging to the Frecce Tricolori are mainly specialists in charge of the maintenance of the Aermacchi MB339A-PAN aircraft.
The new liveries of the Frecce Tricolori to celebrate PAN’s sixtieth anniversary
The new celebratory liveries, made on the tail fins and on the sides of the fuselage, tell the stages in the activities of PAN, the most awarded aerobatic group in the world, the only one that performs with a formation of 10 aircraft and that draws a tricolor 5 kilometers long. They recall the emblems and names of the Patrols of the various Operational Departments of the Air Force which in the 1950s alternated in the task of representation then assigned to the 313th “Frecce Tricolori” Acrobatic Training Group, set up at the Rivolto airport.
The official logo chosen for the 60th anniversary celebration is depicted on the Pony 0 aircraft, Gaetano Farina, commander of the PAN. The liveries of the ponies from 1 to 5, on the other hand, portray the symbols of the Prancing Horse, the Thundering Jets, the White Tigers, the Red Devils and the Black Lancers respectively; in the order in which they made their first appearance as an official team in 1952. The same liveries “dress”, with the same sequence, the remaining aircraft from Pony 6 to Pony 10, thus covering the entire formation that performed in September to Rivolto.
Rivolto Air Show on the occasion of the celebrations for the 60th anniversary
As every year, the PAN is preparing to bring its flight program to the skies of Italy and abroad. Like every year, this group of professionals, coming from all departments of the Air Force, has been preparing for a long time with intensity and dedication. He did so on 18 September 2021, on the occasion of the visit to the Rivolto air base by the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella, to attend the Air Show on the occasion of the celebrations for the 60th anniversary of the Frecce Tricolori.
The President landed at the airport aboard the Airbus A319 escorted by two Eurofighters of the Italian Air Force. To welcome him, among others, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, air squad general Alberto Rosso, and the president of Friuli Venezia Giulia, Massimiliano Fedriga.
Upon his arrival at the Rivolto base, the Minister of Defense, Lorenzo Guerini, wanted to reiterate how the Frecce Tricolori are “a symbol for the rebirth of the country, which is rich in excellence and must start flying again. I believe that the Frecce invite us to this flight ».
The highest officials of the state were present at the Air Show, including the president of the Senate, Maria Elisabetta Alberti Casellati.
The tricolor embrace over Italian cities during the first lockdown is instead the most exciting recent memory of the commander of the acrobatic team, Lieutenant Colonel Gaetano Farina. “The Frecce Tricolori – he explained to reporters on the sidelines of the celebrations – in those days gave a sign of hope and rebirth to the Italians in a difficult moment”.
The Arrows, adds Farina, “have the task of representing the Air Force, the Armed Forces, but also the country system, made in Italy in the world. We are often defined as ambassadors in the world, this fills us with pride, we are aware of how important our work is when we spread the Tricolor of our beautiful country ».
A bit of history
We must go back to 1961 when the first six F-86E “Saber” aircraft with the livery of the “Prancing Horse” patrol arrived at the Rivolto air base (Udine). The six “Sabers” came from Grosseto, today one of the bases dedicated to the defense of the Italian skies and seat of the then 4th Aerobrigata, now 4th Stormo. Waiting for them on the ground, their first Commander: Major Mario Squarcina. Thus the first cell of the “Special Acrobatic Unit”, the original nucleus of the nascent Frecce Tricolori, was established.
60 years have passed since that day and today, as then, the Frecce Tricolori are proud to represent the values, technology, competence and ability to team up of the entire Air Force.
During these sixty years, the National Aerobatic Team has taken its performances to 48 countries around the world – from America to Russia, from Northern Europe to the Middle East and North Africa – spreading the Tricolor on the most beautiful places and on the occasion of the most significant of the history of our country.
Today’s Frecce Tricolori are the result of a long period of time in which men and means have known and had to overcome themselves day after day by improving but never forgetting the collective acrobatic traditions started in the thirties by an idea of ??Colonel Rino Corso Fougier . From training to combat, little by little, aerial acrobatics also assumed the role of demonstrating both the skills of pilots and aircraft and the technological knowledge and skills and inspiration of the men who conceived new figures in flight.
In 1961, the Air Force General Staff decided to set up the National Aerobatic Team with permanent headquarters in the Rivolto airport. The first aircraft of the then Prancing Horse Patrol, chosen to become the National Aerobatic Team, landed on March 3, 1961 and immediately began training for their first exhibition scheduled for May 1 of that year in Trento. This is how the 313th “Frecce Tricolori” Acrobatic Training Group was officially born. The initial F-86 aircraft was replaced (1964) by the FIAT G91 and in 1981 the transition was made to the Aermacchi MB-339A PAN.
The main task of PAN is to represent the Italian Air Force and Italy in air shows at home and abroad with collective aerobatic flight programs that highlight and enhance the qualities of pilots and machines. This department has about 2,500 flight hours annually.
Some dates to remember
- For the first time on 25 October 1962 with a take-off of three formations from three aircraft, the PAN presents itself to the public with the formation of 9 aircraft; in the same year the Italian aerobatic team manages to emit both white and colored smoke.
- For the first and only time in Italy, PAN used two soloists in 1968, thus bringing the number of aircraft in flight to 11 (Ferrazzutti – Zanazzo).
- For the first time in the spring of 1982 a jet aircraft performed the flare and the lomçovak (Molinaro).
- In 1986, after Italo Balbo’s 1933 air cruise, a formation of 12 military aircraft, following a route north of the Atlantic, crossed the ocean and then performed 17 times in 11 different locations