Francesco Baracca Memorial Day 2012

[Dysko 93]

Every year on Francesco Baracca Airfield, in Nervesa della Battaglia, near the Piave river in Italy, there is a small airshow to commemorate the anniversary of the death of Italian top scoring Ace Francesco Baracca, who flew from this airfield and was shot down and killed near this place on 19 june 1918.

In the place where his corpse and plane were found, in 1936 this monument was built, with a dedication by poet Gabriele d'Annunzio, great friend of Baracca and himself an observer on Italian bombers in WW1 (he organised the famous flight over Vienna, where Italian bombers dropped thousands of propaganda leaflets).

 

At the entrance of the airfield, there is a memorial dedicated to all those who lost their life in the Battle of the Solstice (a major Austro-Hungarian offensive across Piave river, that was ultimately stopped by the Italian Army).

 

This airshow was also the last part of a raid organised by Italian Biplane Club:

 

Radial engines, everywhere!

 

The beautiful Beech 17 Staggerwing that toured the world with Bill Charney at the commands:

 

 

 

Airplanes kept going back and forth to fly over the Baracca Memorial.

 

 

This is a Macchi MB.308, the first airplane built in Italy after WW2. This particular plane was flown by newsreport company Incom, and was used for aerial films for the newsreport "La settimana Incom" ("Incom weekly"). Now it is flown by the President of Historic Aircraft Group Italy.

 

Low pass in formation with an Aeronca 65:

 

 

Maneuvering with a bicycle gear requires lot of attention.

 

A flying replica of the Fokker Dr.I flown by baron Manfred von Richtofen, the "Red Baron".

 

A Fieseler Fi.156 Storch replica. It certainly retains the STOL capabilities of the original aircraft: while other planes rotated in front of me, this was already very high in the sky!

 

I thought Snoopy's doghouse was a Sopwith Camel...

 

The President of Biplano Club Italia was flying with an Enjoy ultralight biplane:

 

3 Stearmans brought us back in time to the barnstorming era:

 

 

 

In the hangar there was a P-51 Mustang replica. I got closer to the plane, and noticed this small helicopter. I didn't know anything about it, except for a sign that said "Scorpion single seat helicopter". Searching on the web, I discovered this is a quite rare Rotorway Scorpion I homebuilt helicopter.

 

This Diamond Super Dimona motorglider made a great display:

 

Then "Blue Voltige" display team on Fournier RF-5 motorgliders:

 

There was also usual traffic, like autogyros...

 

...and trikes:

 

Who is this plane's father? (only for Star Wars fans!)

 

A Sky Arrow ultralight:

 

The cockpit of a Wolf W-11 ultralight biplane used by display team "Boredom Fighters Team":

 

There were also historic utility vehicles: 2 Willys and a FIAT Campagnola (Italian successor of the Willys):

 

Ford M151 MUTT:

 

One of only 8 Hummer H1 in Italy:

 

Finally, some Photoshop "jokes".

This photo could have been taken in the USA in the Thirties...

 

Since I couldn't take a decent photo of the cockpit of the Dr.I, I imagined Snoopy's enconuters with the Red Baron...

[+Sundowner 4,516]

Lovely selection of pictures, that Staggerwing is a fantastic looking aeroplane...