Italy: Frecce Tricolori celebrate 60 years of spectacular aerobatics

Rome: The 60th anniversary this week marks the inaugural Frecce Tricolori flight of six North American F-86 Sabers from Grosseto to Rivolto, near Udine.

The Frecce Tricolori comprise 10 aircraft, nine flying in close formation plus a soloist, and since 1982 the planes used are the two-seater fighter-trainer Aermacchi MB-339-A/PAN.

The military jets are piloted by officers from the flight operational departments of the air force who, following a rigorous selection process, become part of the Pattuglia Acrobatica Nazionale (PAN) or national aerobatic team.

Last year the Frecce Tricolori undertook a nationwide tour in a symbolic sign of “unity, solidarity and recovery” during Italy’s coronavirus emergency.

The tour began on 25 May with Trento, Codogno, Milan, Turin and Aosta, culminating in an aerobatic display in Rome on 2 June, Festa della Repubblica.

Other flyovers included the inauguration of the new Genoa bridge in August, two years after the previous structure collapsed in a disaster that claimed 43 lives.

This year the Frecce Tricolori staged a flyover at the World Ski Championships in Cortina, emitting their trademark plumes of red, white and green of the Italian flag.

“The Frecce Tricolori are known, appreciated and carry our tricolor all over the world,” the air force chief of staff General Alberto Rosso told Italian news agency ANSA, adding: “They symbolise all that is technology, passion, ability, skill and professionalism that Italy is able to export and bring to the world.”