(by Andrea Pinto) The "G. Moscardini ”of Frosinone, headquarters of the 72 ° Flock of the Italian Air Force, after so many years it has opened its doors to citizenship, on the occasion of theNational Unity Day and Armed Forces Day". Despite the uncertain weather conditions until a few hours before the event, the airport registered a turnout of about 2000 people. Curiosity has pushed entire schoolchildren and ordinary people to enter a place, known only from the outside, they had the opportunity to see and touch the helicopters of the Wing. The TH 500 and AW 139 were literally stormed, to visit them inside and to immortalize, with a souvenir photo, the aircraft they hear and see far away in the skies of Frosinone, every day.
The celebrations began with the raising of the flag and the deposition of the crown on the monumental cippus. Following were read the messages of the Minister of Defense and the President of the Republic, by respectively Commander of the Military Presidency Colonel Davide Cipelletti and Prefect Dr. Ignazio Portelli.
As evidence of the feeling of sharing of values and the closeness between citizenship and the Armed Forces, a Tricolor was awarded to one of the Institutes present: the ITIS, "Gold Medal for Military Valor Don Morosini" of Ferentino.
The guests of the 72 ° Stormo were able to visit the static exhibition of airplanes, helicopters and vehicles supplied to the Armed Forces and State Corps, the stands of the components that competed at the event and the historic hall of the airport, managed by the Association Aeronautical weapon. At the same time, it was possible to witness the flight activity which saw the TH-500B helicopters of the 72 ° Stormo as protagonists, which, having been configured with different arrangements, demonstrated the capabilities of the Air Force in contributing to the activities of civil protection, research and relief and support to the population in case of disaster.
The National Unity Day and Armed Forces Day represented an opportunity to retrace, in a contemporary interpretation, the many extraordinary proofs of courage, civilization and the desire for rebirth of which our Nation has, in the past, made protagonist.
The 72 ° Stormo
The 72 ° Stormo, the only school in the rotary wing sector in Italy, is the Department dependent on the Air Force Schools Command / 3 ^ Air Region of Bari, which trains the helicopter pilots of the Arma Azzurra, the other Armed Forces and Corps State armed, as well as foreign visitors. The 72 ° Stormo, in its 50 years of history, has trained about 5000 helicopter pilots. The collaborative synergy developed in the field of training at the Frosinone helicopter school is part of the perspective of continuous improvement of training and contextual optimization of resources. The Stormo will be the protagonist, in the near future, of the joint project for the establishment of a helicopter training school with joint connotation, which will see the Air Force in the position of "lead" service, according to the provisions of the letter of intent signed between the Chiefs of Staff of the Air Force and the Army. The Stormo participates, with its own assets, in the operational activity of the FA and, upon request, is able to offer the contribution to Civil Protection and SAR operations (Search and Rescue - Rescue and Recovery). The Frosinone base also provides training for future instructors, specialists and on-board operators.
The helicopters of the 72 ° Stormo
Breda-Nardi TH 500B
Lightweight, five-bladed, single-turbine training and connection helicopter, characterized by high flexibility of use and versatility that the 72 ° Stormo has been using since 1990. The aircraft is equipped with advanced and sophisticated avionics systems and was chosen by the Italian Air Force in the configuration that allows the most complete training capacity. In addition to training tasks, it can carry out co-operation missions in SAR and Combat SAR operations, personal transport, cargo or wounded, rescue operations, defense of military bases and installations, shooting training, reconnaissance, observation and liaison. It has the ability to operate on ponds with the adoption of fixed floats and on snow-covered surfaces with the appropriate snow skates. The "egg" -shaped cabin is divided into two parts: front, which forms the cockpit and rear, which forms the passenger cabin or load compartment.
AW-139
The AW-139, which in the version for the Italian Air Force takes the name HH, Hospital Helicopter, is a mid-range bi-turbine. The HH-139A is a solution identified on the market to continue to effectively ensure the air search and rescue service, both for the institutional tasks of possible recovery of crews and military personnel in difficulty, and for the activities of competition to the community in case of emergency medical flights, natural disasters and major national events. Being a helicopter already tested and in service with other national civil and military realities (Guardia di Finanza, Coast Guard, various local authorities), the HH-139A allows to realize significant synergies - training, logistic and above all operational - in the inter-force field and interacts in the delicate and complex sector of air rescue, essential for intervening successfully when required, often in prohibitive conditions, at night, in bad weather, in particularly inaccessible and isolated areas. The HH-139A is able to operate both day and night thanks to the use of night vision goggles (NVG - Night Vision Goggles), in particularly demanding areas, even from unprepared surfaces, in dusty environments, snowy areas or in the marine environment. The helicopter is a particularly versatile machine: in a maximum of 30 minutes it is possible to change the internal configuration, passing from that for air rescue (primary version SAR: 5 passengers + 1 stretcher) to air rescue and emergency medical (MEDEVAC version: 2 to 4 stretchers) or passenger transport (version UTILITY: up to 14 passengers).