The Italian air force’s aerobatic team Frecce Tricolori was involved over the past few days in the preparations for the opening ceremony of the XXth Olympic Winter Games, due to start next Friday in Turin.
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Ten pilots from Italy’s national aerobatic patrol (PAN) based at Rivolto air base, flew in formation to draw the five interlocked rings of the Olympic emblem, underlined by straight red white and green lines to represent the Italian national flag. The exercise was recorded by Italian broadcaster RAI for a spot made to promote the Winter Olympics.
The ten Aermacchi MB-339A/PAN of the team were divided into two 5-aircraft formations and started the exhibition at an altitude of 6,000ft (1,820m). The five aircraft responsible for the circles turned at 140kt (260km/h) with a 60° bank angle and flaps in take-off setting to make the five 200m-diameter intersecting circles with white smoke generators. Meanwhile the other five MB-339As underlined their colleagues’ artwork with a single pass in tight formation, leaving a tri-coloured trail.
A higher-than usual flight envelope was imposed to meet the field of view of the wide angle television cameras. The pilots carried out three test flights to prepare the television session, each of around 1h duration.
The Italian air force's contribution to the Winter Olympics also included the transportation of the Olympic flame aboard a Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules transport on a tour of humanitarian missions around the world prior to its arrival in Rome on 7 December.
PINO MODOLO / GENOA
Source: Flight International
