The transfer, from Pratica di Mare to Lake Bracciano, was carried out in collaboration with the National Fire Brigade Corps thanks to a special transport helicopter
It has "landed" a few moments on the shores of Lake Bracciano, where it will become an integral part of the collection of the Historical Museum of the Air Force, the last example of the Breguet Br 1150 Atlantic anti-submarine and patrol aircraft, in service until last November at the 41 ° Stormo di Sigonella.
The particular transfer was made in flight with a special Erickson S-64F helicopter of the National Fire Brigade operated in the event by the European Air Crane Company (EuAC).
The helicopter, thanks to a special harness, normally used for anti-fire activities and in emergencies, raised the fuselage of the Atlantic from the runway of the military airport of Pratica di Mare, where it landed on November 22 after its last flight activities, and transported it to the headquarters of the Historical Museum of the AM along an authorized route previously agreed with the civil air traffic authorities, the prefectures and the local authorities involved.
To welcome the Breguet Br 1150 in Vigna di Valle the Air Brigade General Carlo Moscini, Inspector of the Navy Aviation, who at the end of the transfer symbolically handed over the keys of the Atlantic to the Director of the Museum, Ten. Col. Adelio Roviti . Present technicians and managers of the Air Service of the National Fire Brigade who followed all the preparatory phases of the mission and transfer of the Atlantic fuselage.
"The Atlantic enters by right into the list of prestigious aircraft of the Historical Museum of the Air Force" - said General Moscini - "The operational activity carried out by the aircraft in the Antisom field has been increased: over 45 years of service totaling more than 260 thousand flight hours. “The Submarine Hunter” represented a perfect combination of operability and effectiveness resulting in fact the first joint weapon system; an absolutely reliable aircraft with incredible operational capabilities for which it could not be part of the Museum's collection. "
The first Italian Atlantic aircraft arrived in Sigonella on the afternoon of June 27, 1972. The transition phase to the new weapon system had already begun for the 41st Wing, the ATR-72 aircraft in the militarized "maritime patrol" version P -72A, arrived in Sigonella on 25 November 2016.
The 41 ° Stormo Antisom of Sigonella is a real operative operative interforze in the Italian Defense field. This specificity represents, since the 1965, an example of synergy and interforce cooperation so as to receive the 28 March 2007, from the President of the Republic, the Silver Medal of Civil Merit as recognition for the meritorious and incessant work carried out by the Department in the period from 1990 to 2005.
The Atlantic is an aircraft that has operated with crews composed of 13 units with the peculiarity of being formed by officers pilots and non-commissioned officers on board belonging to both the Air Force and the Navy. One of the main features of the aircraft was the ability to stay in flight higher than any other similar aircraft, reaching the record of 19 hours and 20 minutes without any type of supply. In 45 years of activity the Italian Atlantic have worked on the waters of the Mediterranean to defend national borders, but also in many international missions participating in numerous NATO and non-NATO exercises. The Atlantic has touched prestigious destinations such as the North Pole in the 1997, all major European military airports to Iceland and still fascinating transoceanic and global stages such as India, Morocco, Canada, Greenland, Egypt, USA, Lebanon, United Arab Emirates, etc.
The Atlantic is thus added to the more than 80 aircraft already present at the Historical Museum of the Air Force, a structure that with its 13.000 square meters of covered exhibition space is one of the largest and most interesting flight museums in the world. Arranged on four large exhibition pavilions, the museum also houses a large collection of engines and aviation memorabilia of various kinds, which tell, in chronological sequence, the history of military flight in Italy and that of the men who were the protagonists.