Frecce Tricolori

Frecce Tricolori
Frecce Tricolori insignia
Active1 March 1961 – present
CountryItaly Italy
BranchAeronautica Militare
RoleAerobatic display team
Garrison/HQRivolto Air Force Base,
Codroipo, Udine, Italy
ColorsNational colours of Italy
Aircraft flown
Fighter1961–63 Canadair F-86E
1964–81 Fiat G.91 PAN
Trainer1982–present Aermacchi MB-339-A/PAN
TBD Aermacchi M-346

The Frecce Tricolori (Italian: [ˈfrettʃe trikoˈloːri]; lit. 'Tricolour Arrows'), officially known as the 313° Gruppo Addestramento Acrobatico, Pattuglia Acrobatica Nazionale (PAN) Frecce Tricolori ("313th Acrobatic Training Group, National Aerobatic Team (PAN) Frecce Tricolori"), is the aerobatic demonstration team of the Italian Air Force. Based at Rivolto Air Base, province of Udine, it was created on 1 March 1961 as a permanent group for the training of Air Force pilots in air acrobatics.[1]

The Tricolour Arrows replaced unofficial teams that had been sponsored by various commands starting in the early 1930s.[2] The team flies the Aermacchi MB-339-A/PAN, a two-seat fighter-trainer craft capable of 898 km/h at sea level.[2][3] With ten aircraft, nine in close formation and a soloist, they are the world's largest acrobatics patrol, and their flight schedule, comprising about twenty acrobatics and about half an hour, makes them the most famous in the world.[4] It is one of national symbols of Italy.[5] On 28 August 1988 the Frecce Tricolori caused the Ramstein air show disaster, one of the worst air show disasters in history, in which 67 spectators and three pilots died and 346 spectators sustained serious injuries.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference aeronautica was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Aeronautica Militare official site
  3. ^ Caliaro 2005, p. 25
  4. ^ Caliaro 2005, p. 25.
  5. ^ "Le Frecce Tricolori verso il 60esimo compleanno" (in Italian). Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 15 October 2019.