A perfect group or “gruppo perfetto” in Italian, was 7,600 kilometres from home over the July 20 weekend.
From Rivolto Air Base to smoked-in Canadian Forces Base Cold Lake, Frecce Tricolori of the Italian Air Force arrived on this leg of their North American Tour.
Although the conditions drastically restricted their ability to perform more than a few flypasts, the team has been travelling across North America showing support for their allies.
The Source caught up with Colonnello Stefano Pietropaoli, Comandante North America Tour Aeronautica Militare, for a one-on-one interview about the team, their goals and experiences they’ve had so far. Due to the language barrier, we have cleaned up and paraphrased some of the Colonnello’s answers.
Q. What is it like for your team to be here in Canada, why are you here?
A. We are here for several reasons, the first one was the fact the Royal Canadian Air Force is celebrating the 100th anniversary.
We've done this before, we (The Italian Air Force) are one year older than the Royal Canadian Air Force, so we did celebrate our anniversary, our 100th anniversary last year.
For that reason, the Royal Canadian Air Force Chief of Staff, General Kenny, invited the Italian Air Force to be a part of a celebration.
The second reason is because we do love Canadians. There is a good partnership, a friendship, international collaboration. And because last year, we were seeing a lot of all Italians (at home). This year, we know their (are) Italians all around the world. We know Canada has almost three and a half million Italians living here.
Q. What is it like seeing Canada from the air?
Canada is probably the most beautiful country in the world, because it's still (the) same as it was years and years ago. So, the surrounding area is fantastic, the colours are totally different than in other countries because of lack of air pollution.
The other countries like this, they have a lot of big cities, a lot of pollution, so looking from the sky, Canada is a beautiful county.
A. How has the reception been here in Canada?
A. The hospitality we received was fantastic, way, way above our expectation. All the people were so friendly to us, not just Italians, especially Canadians. They are taking care of everything, taking care of us like good friends.
The last question we asked was about the performance and the team.
A. We use the MB-399, a 40-year-old Italian Manufactured trainer. It’s a really good training performance aircraft. We took a block of these aircraft because they are light, jet-powered, high-performance aircraft and made this show so all the people can see the technology of the Italians.
We have the Guinness World Record for having a 10-aircraft formation, the only one in the world. We split into different sections, we have a solo-pilot, and for 26 minutes, we show the world everything we can do. We show a continuous river of spectacular (aerobatic) displays in that time.
Their last stop in Canada is August 1, 2024 when they fly over Toronto. They return home to by the beginning of September.
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