The (; ), officially known as the ("313th Acrobatic Training Group, National Aerobatic Team (PAN) Frecce Tricolori"), is the aerobatic demonstration team of the Italian Air Force. Based at Rivolto Air Base, province of Udine, it was created on 1 March 1961 as a permanent group for the training of Air Force pilots in air acrobatics. The team flies the Aermacchi MB-339-A/PAN, a two-seat fighter-trainer craft capable of 898 km/h at sea level. With ten aircraft, nine in close formation and a soloist, they are the world's largest acrobatics patrol, and their flight schedule, comprising about twenty acrobatics and about half an hour, makes them among the most famous in the world. It is one of national symbols of Italy. On 28 August 1988 three Frecce Tricolori aircraft collided during the Ramstein air show: it was one of the worst air show disasters in history, in which 67 spectators and three pilots died and 346 spectators sustained serious injuries.
History
Previous patrols
thumb|left|[[North American F-86 Sabre|F-86E supplied with the Cavallino Rampante]]
In Italy the first acrobatic flight school was founded in 1930 at the Udine-Campoformido Airport on the initiative of Colonel Rino Corso Fougier, commander of the 1st Fighter Wing: the first formation consisted of five Fiat C.R.20 and already on 8 June 1930 at first air show, called "Wing Day", these planes performed in a "bomb", a figure similar to the current bomb.
In the years before the World War II the patrol of the Regia Aeronautica participated in various events (to note is that in 1932 Breda Ba.19 was used, in 1934 Fiat CR.30 and from 1936 Fiat CR.32), among which in 1938 the inauguration of the Milan-Linate Airport during which the Chief Patrol was Bruno Sartori, Silver Medal of Military Valor.
After the inevitable parenthesis of the 1939-1945 period the acrobatic patrol was dissolved and reformed after the war, even if not officially classified as an acrobatic patrol. It was in fact the 51st Fighter Wing, equipped with US P-51D Mustang and British Spitfire Mk.IX aircraft, the first to perform with three Spitfires at Padua Airport in September 1947. The enthusiasm of these pilots was soon followed by some of their colleagues of the 5th Wing, which formed another aerobatic team based on Spitfire aircraft.
In 1950 a patrol called Cavallino Rampante (Prancing Horse) formed, consisting of four pilots of the 4th Wing equipped with D.H.100 Vampire aircraft. The notoriety of Guizzo grew to such an extent that in 1955 he was given a film called The four of the thundering jet (in honour of the Thunderjet), and it was thanks to this film that the department officially changed its name to Getti Tonanti (Thundering Jets), continuing to perform until 1956, when they were replaced by the Tigri Bianche (White Tigers) of the 51st Fighter Wing, always mounted on F-84G. 1957 also saw the entry into the scene of two new acrobatic departments: the Diavoli Rossi (Red Devils) and the Lanceri Neri (Black Lancers). The former were on staff at the 6th Fighter Wing, and with their F-84F Thunderstreak they achieved a great consensus among the population, as shown by their tour in the United States of America; the latter instead came from the 2nd Aerobrigata, demonstrating, with the help of the F-86E, great operational ability, which led them to fly also in Iran in 1959 in the presence of the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
thumb|Fiat G.91 in the livery of the .
The flew on North American F-86 Sabre until 1963.
thumb|left|The fly over the [[Victor Emmanuel II Monument during the celebrations of the Festa della Repubblica in 2022]]
In 2000 they reached 50,000 flying hours on the Aermacchi MB-339.
In 2005 they won the award for best exhibition at the Royal International Air Tattoo at Fairford, England. They were the first non-Russian unit to receive the Russian Silver Medal for Aeronautical Merit. On 8 September 2007 the took part at the funeral of Luciano Pavarotti in Modena and honoured him with a fly-past leaving green-white-red smoke trails.
The replacement (scheduled for 2017) of the MB-339PAN with Alenia Aermacchi M.345 HET (High-Efficiency Trainer), announced in 2013, was blocked in 2014, reconfirmed in 2016 with entry into service scheduled for 2020; however, as of 2024 the team was still flying the MB-339PAN.
On 12 September 2024, the Italian Air Force announced that Frecce Tricolori would use Alenia Aermacchi M-346 Master as their new aircraft.
Description
Aircraft features
The livery of the Aermacchi MB-339 used by the Group is given by the characteristic tricolour band that crosses the side of the plane against a savoy blue background. The airplane's abdomen is light gray while the formation numbers are yellow stickers. For the classic Aermacchi MB-339 A under the Italian Air Force the wingtip tanks were removed for two reasons:
- penalize the acrobatic performance of the aircraft, in particular, the fast tonneaux due to a considerable mass placed far from the axis of rotation;
- would make it more difficult to maintain tight formation during acrobatic manoeuvres, partially inhibiting the view of the aircraft next to which one is flying and thus depriving the "gregari" of precise reference points for maintaining the position.
Mixed subalary tanks are thus created, containing both vaseline oil for fumes and a certain amount of fuel to partially compensate for the reduction in autonomy caused by the removal of wingtip tanks. Larger subalar fuel tanks (pylon tanks), already provided for at the origin, can be installed on the external subaltern pylons for long-range transfer flights. The name "Pony" was coined by the then Captain Zeno Tascio to remember the horse of Francesco Baracca which is the sign of the 4th Wing, at the time 4th Airbase who was already preparing to take over the task PAN for the 1961. Depending on the needs of the Department, aircraft can also be 11 in total, thus including the figure of the acrobatic training manager.thumb|Passage of the Frecce Tricolori in [[Florence on 28 March 2018 for the celebrations of the 95th anniversary of the establishment of the Italian Air Force]]
- Pony 0 - Commander
- Pony 1 - Head of Formation
- Pony 2 - 1° Left Domestique
- Pony 3 - 1° Right Domestique
- Pony 4 - 2° Left Domestique
- Pony 5 - 2° Right Domestique
- Pony 6 - 1° Tail light
- Pony 7 - 3° Left Domestique
- Pony 8 - 3° Right Domestique
- Pony 9 - 2° Tail light
- Pony 10 - Soloist
- Pony 11 - Acrobatic Training Supervisor
- Pony 12 - Pilot in Training
- Pony 13 - Pilot in Training
- Pony 14 - Pilot in Training
- Pony 15 - Pilot in Training
- Pony 16 - Pilot in Training
Flight programs and pilot selection
thumb|Close formation of at the [[Royal International Air Tattoo held in Fairford in 2025]]
The have three programs for performing acrobatics: high, low, and flat, depending on the weather conditions and the characteristics of the exhibition area.
Only the best pilots have access to the : each year one or two of them are chosen strictly among those who have more than 1,000 flight hours, and once they have entered they must follow a gradual insertion training program.
Incidents
Below is a list of the accidents that occurred to the pilots of the :
{| class="wikitable"
!Pilot
!Aircraft
!Position
!Circumstance
!Result
!Place
!Date
|-
|Massimo Raffaello Scala
| rowspan=6|F-86E Sabre
|Pony 3
| rowspan=2|Training
|Deceased
| rowspan=2|Rivolto Air Base
| rowspan=2|3 May 1961
|-
| Gianni Pinato
| Pony 4
| Survived
|-
|Gianbattista Ceoletta
|
|Training
| Survived
| Rivolto Air Base
| 21 August 1961
|-
|Mauro Venturini
|
|Training
|Deceased
| Rivolto Air Base
|30 August 1961
|-
| Eugenio Colucci
|Pony 5
| rowspan=2|Air show
|Deceased
| rowspan=2|Forlì
| rowspan=2|5 May 1963
|-
| Ennio Anticoli
|Pony 8
| Survived
|-
|Raffaele D'Andretta
| rowspan=14|Fiat G.91PAN
|Pony 3
|Training
|Deceased
| Rivolto Air Base
|22 March 1967
|-
|Giancarlo Bonollo
|Pony 6
|Training
| Survived
| Bertiolo
|12 December 1969
|-
|Valentino Jansa
|Pony 9
|Training
|Deceased
| Palmanova
|22 September 1971
|-
|Angelo Gays
|Pony 7
| rowspan=2|Air show
|Deceased
| rowspan=2|Pratica di Mare
| rowspan=2|2 June 1973
|-
|Antonio Gallus
|Pony 4
| Survived
|-
|Sandro Santilli
|Pony 9
| rowspan=2|Training
| rowspan=2|Deceased
| rowspan=2|Rivolto Air Base
| rowspan=2|14 March 1974
|-
|Ivano Poffe
|Pony 7
|-
|Graziano Carrer
|Pony 2
| rowspan=2|Training
|Deceased
| rowspan=2|Rivolto Air Base
| rowspan=2|12 July 1978
|-
|Andrea Di Paoli
|Pony 4
| Survived
|-
|Piergianni Petri
|Pony 2
|Air show
|Deceased
| Mildenhall (England)
|27 May 1979
|-
|Vito Posca
|Pony 4
|Training
| Survived
|Rivolto
|9 April 1980
|-
|Pasqualino Gorga
|6251 - 7
|Training
|Unharmed
| Treviso
|29 June 1981
|-
|Antonio Gallus
|Pony 1
| rowspan=2|Training
|Deceased
| rowspan=2|Rivolto Air Base
| rowspan=2|2 September 1981
|-
|Fabio Brovedani
|Pony 2
| Survived
|-
|Vito Posca
| rowspan=11|MB-339PAN
|Pony 1
|Transfer
| Survived
| Chiusaforte
|4 September 1984
|-
|John Miglio
|Pony 11
|Training
|Deceased
| Rivolto Air Base
|20 February 1985
|-
|Mario Naldini
|Pony 1
| rowspan=3|Air show
| rowspan=3|Deceased, 67 civilian fatalities
| rowspan=3|Ramstein AFB (Germany)
| rowspan=3|28 August 1988<br>(details)
|-
|Giorgio Alessio
|Pony 2
|-
|Ivo Nutarelli
|Pony 10
|-
|Paolo Scoponi
|Pony 10
|Training
|Deceased
| Rivolto Air Base
|12 December 1988
|-
|Andrea Braga<br />Stefano Commisso
|Pony 9
|Training
| Survived
| Rivolto Air Base
|27 October 2002
|-
|Oscar Del Dó
|Pony 4
|Take off
| Survived, 1 civilian fatality
| Turin Airport
|16 September 2023<br>(details)
|-
|unannounced || Pony 6 || rowspan=3|Air show || Unharmed || rowspan=3|Pantelleria || rowspan=3|6 May 2025
|-
| Luca Battistoni || Pony 8 || Survived, knee injury
|-
|unannounced || Pony 9 || Unharmed
|}
See also
- List of aerobatic teams
References
Sources
External links
- Aermacchi MB-339 PAN for Digital Combat Simulator
- Aermacchi MB-339 PAN for FlightGear
- Frecce Tricolori on Airliners.net
- Air14 Payerne