After renovations, the Museum of Vigna di Valle reopens with great innovations, which anticipate those that will be built for the Centenary AM of 2023
From October 31st, the Historical Museum of the Air Force will be open to the public again after a period of redevelopment and adaptation of its exhibition facilities that will allow visitors to better appreciate the aircraft and relics that tell the story of flight military in Italy and that of the men and women who were protagonists.
Ideally the doors of the Museum were reopened by the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Air Squad General Alberto Rosso, during a sober ceremony held this morning in Vigna di Valle, in the presence of local authorities and a small number of representatives of the Armed Force.
“Knowing the base, the cement of our history, helps us to look at our future in the best and most professional way possible. When we see a piece of our history we not only see the material but the value it contains ”. With these words, General Rosso wanted to underline the importance of keeping alive, today as in the past, the values that characterize the institutions and the Armed Forces, "committed to serving our country in the best possible way, with passion, competence and community of intentions ".
“Reopening the Museum, despite all the limitations imposed by this difficult period - continued General Rosso - is even more important now that we are approaching a fundamental milestone of our Armed Force: the celebration of our Centenary. 2023 seems far away but not that long. Today's is a small step to build a path that brings us ever closer to celebrating our hundred years ”.
On the occasion, the last two aircraft of the Italian Air Force were unveiled and thus officially become part of the Museum's exhibition collection: the F-16 Fighting Falcon and the Breguet 1150 Atlantic, two aircraft that have written important pages of contemporary history of the Armed Force, respectively in the field of air defense - where the F-16 ensured its service between the F-104's exit of service, in 2004, and the entry of the Eurofighter, in 2012 - and as part of the anti-submarine air patrol, where the Atlantic has instead ensured the surveillance of the Mediterranean Sea over the course of 45 years of operational life, from 1972 to 2017.
The last example of Atlantic, in 2018, was the protagonist of a spectacular transfer from the Pratica di Mare airport to Vigna di Valle, carried out with a helicopter of the National Fire Brigade that flew the plane thanks to to a special harness.
The Museum, which is located in Vigna di Valle, on Lake Bracciano, will be open every day from October 31st, from 10:00 to 16:00 (except on weekdays, January 1st, Easter day and December 25), with free admission and regulated access in compliance with the regulations on the containment of COVID-19. Upon reservation, it will also be possible to enjoy free guided tours for organized groups. Access to the museum will be allowed only through the military entrance located in Via Circumlacuale - Bracciano.
The Museo Storico dell'Aeronautica Militare, inaugurated in 1977 by the President of the Republic Giovanni Leone, with its 13.000 square meters of covered exhibition area, is one of the largest and most interesting museums of flight in the world. It has the task of collecting, restoring, conserving, exhibiting and enhancing the aeronautical material of historical and documentary interest coming from discoveries or donations from private individuals. Through multiple internal and external activities, it is also a driving force of history and aeronautical culture both from a scientific, didactic and popular point of view. The Museum is arranged over four large exhibition pavilions and houses about 80 aircraft and a large collection of engines and aeronautical memorabilia of various kinds that tell, in chronological sequence, the history of military flight in Italy and that of men and women. who were its protagonists. The route winds through the sectors dedicated to pioneers, airships, the First World War, the epic of the polar flights of General Nobile, the great mass cruises, the Schneider Cup, the aircraft between the two wars, the Second World War and large airplanes, to finish with the last pavilion illustrating the post-war rebirth of the Air Force.