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Pratica di Mare air show: |
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Farewell to the Starfighter
There
was an open invitation to all (former!) F-104 pilots from all over the
world to join this event. Fifteen countries in total flew th In total 18 f-104s were on display, of which 16 in flying condition. Six aircraft were displayed in a special area called 'World Starfighter Meeting'. Three of these aircraft wore special color schemes. There was the Ducati red 999, a blue colored dual with yellow lion markings and a black one wearing the Lockheed Martin company logo. These three also participated in a nine ship formation fly past of Starfighters. The howling sound of it produced the necessary goose bumps on our bodies and we became emotional by the thought we will never hear this again...
Lots
of excellent Italian build aircraft participated in the static display.
There where three P166s (1 AMI, 1 Guardia di Finanza and 1 Guardia
C
Although photographers had to face the sun
all day we think this was a perfect event to commemorate the era of this
magnificent aircraft. |
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Home © Fred & Maurice 2001-2008 |
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This
year the world says goodbye to the good old Starfighter. 50 Years after
its first take off, the F-104 will make its last landing in air force
duty. Except for the Italian air force, every other nation retired this
beauty long time ago already. The Aeronautica Militare Italiana
continues to fly it until October 2004. As the number of operational
aircraft is decreasing rapidly, the Italian Air Force organized a
special air show to celebrate its 50th anniversary and its retirement.
We don't consider the latter as a celebration!
e
104: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Greece, Japan, Jordan, Germany, The
Netherlands, Norway, Italy, Pakistan, Spain, Taiwan, Turkey and the
United States of America. All these countries together used over 2,500
of these 'Cold War' interceptors! 
Apart
from this formation, the organization had more surprises for us. A
formation of a Tornado ADV, an EF-2000B Typhoon and a F-16ADF led by a
F-104S appeared from the south. After one pass they appeared one more
time. This time the F-104 broke up from the formation to climb out just
like in a 'missing man' formation. The last surprise they had was a
formation of the Frecce Tricolori led by the red 999 F-104. After
several passes they too did the missing man. Here come the goose bumps
again...
Of
course there was a lot more than just Starfighters to be seen. Almost
every type in the Italian inventory was present, some of them giving
flying displays. One of them was the Typhoon,
giving a breathtaking display. Another new appearance wearing Italian
colors is the F-16. They are least from the USAF for a 5 to 8 years term
to fill the gap between Starfighter and enough Typhoons to become
operational. Furthermore stunning displays from the Alenia C-27J and the
EH-101ASW, the latter being from the Italian navy. The navy also
displayed with four AV-8B+ Harriers. A Belgian and Dutch Air Force
F-16AM gave some excellent displays as well. The Dutch one made it
special by throwing flares in the show. A Swiss Hornet was behind the
Starfighters the best of the rest!
osteria) on static and one wearing only a primer finish in flying
display. There were several P180 Avanti's, G222s, AMXs, MB339s, and an
SF260 among others. Also foreign countries participated well in this
event. Among others the Germans brought and F-4F and a MiG-29 in
special colors. The Austrians brought two Saab 105OEs (1 static and one
flying) while the Turkish had two RF-4Es on static display and the
Hungarians a Mi-24 and a Mi-8. )
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