Greater than 30 years after the kind’s final flight, the restored G-91 took again to the skies forward of the airshow for the a hundredth anniversary of the Aeronautica Militare.
One other piece of the Italian Air Pressure’s historical past, the Fiat G-91R plane, flew once more in the present day for the primary time because it was retired in 1992. The plane, restored by Renzo Catellani’s Volafenice team and the Italian Air Force, flew within the late morning in the present day from Piacenza Air Base on the instructions of retired Common Maurizio Lodovisi, former take a look at pilot with greater than 6,000 flight hours beneath his belt, and with a MB-326E performing as chase airplane.
The plane, kind solely airworthy airframe, is the previous G-91R/1A MM (Matricola Militare/ Army Serial) 6305 (c/n 169), which now sports activities the civilian registration I-AMIC. The airframe was acquired in 2009 by Catellani, with the restoration began in 2021 at Piacenza Air Base, the previous residence of the Italian Tornado ECR fleet. Final yr, the G-91’s Bristol Siddeley Orpheus engine was began up once more, due to a customized compressed air system which changed the outdated startup cartridges.
The plane, which was assigned to the 2nd Wing and on the time of the retirement sported the unit quantity 2-57, gave up its outdated NATO camouflage and has now been painted in the colors of the Frecce Tricolori, with the identical livery the aerobatic workforce used on the G-91PAN till 1982, when it was changed by the newer MB-399PAN.
The G-91 is a vital a part of the historical past of the Aeronautica Militare, with a 35-year service life and 756 plane constructed. The plane, the final complexly designed and constructed by Fiat Aviazione, served additionally overseas in Portugal and Germany and was even evaluated by the U.S. Military and U.S. Air Pressure for a later cancelled mild assault plane program.
The restored G-91 will now participate, along with many historic plane, to the airshow for the 100th anniversary of the Aeronautica Militare this week at Pratica di Mare air base.
Stefano D’Urso is a freelance journalist and contributor to TheAviationist based in Lecce, Italy. A graduate in Industral Engineering he’s also studying to achieve a Master Degree in Aerospace Engineering. Electronic Warfare, Loitering Munitions and OSINT techniques applied to the world of military operations and current conflicts are among his areas of expertise.
