Articles & Works
Please use the links below or the sidebar on the right to visit the sub pages containing articles. For my articles and works published on a monthly basis on the worldwide aviation magazines visit the following page: In the newsstand. Picture gallery is available here: http://lowpassage.com.
- Axalp 2006 report: a detailed report (available in both Italian and English) about the Axalp demo and Meiringen airbase.
- Emergenza Idrazina!: dealing with Hydrazine at Cervia AB home of the 5th Stormo F-16s (Italian).
- Memories of a fighter pilot: Col. Agrusti recalls his pilot’s life as interceptor in the midst of the Cold War.
- Darwin AB, Italy…: an abstract of an article on the Italian contribution to the INTERFET mission in East Timor.
- 71° Gruppo: the Electronic Warfare “made in Italy”: An analysis of the Italian Electronic Warfare capabilities following the retirement of the PD-808GE.
- Ghibli – Italy’s AMX: the description of the AMX involvement in the Allied Force operation.
- Starfighter Swan Song: the last year of service of the F-104 Starfighter.
- Ferrari vs Eurofighter Typhoon: a report of the speed race between Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari and a Eurofighter Typhoon piloted by Maurizio Cheli.
- Italian Vipers: the story of the first F-16s delivered to the Italian Air Force.
- In volo con l’MB-339CD: in-depth description of a 2 vs 2 training mission on board an MB-339CD of the 61st Stormo (Italian).
- Flying with the TF-104G-M: a description of my formation and acrobatic flight with a TF-104 of the 20th Gruppo.
- In volo con l’AB.212ICO: the description of a CSAR mission with the AB.212 of the 609th Squadriglia in preparation of the deployment to Kabul in Afghanistan (Italian).
- Grosseto airbase, home of the 4th Stormo: an article providing a view of Grosseto based 9th and 20th Gruppo, equipped with F-104s, in year 2000.
- Zombies: a collection of pictures of the ItAF with F-104 intercepting Russian aircraft.
- I-4581: volo acrobatico con l’MB-339A: a pilot report about my first acrobatic flight with the MB-339A piloted by Col. Miniscalco, former Commander of the Frecce Tricolori (Italian).
- Effect Based Operations: how air operations have been changing to achieve greater precision and less collateral damages (Italian).
- Un esercito di animali per le missioni speciali: dolphins, seals, dogs and parrots involved in the war in Iraq (Italian).
- La guerra parallela: SIGINT, ELINT and PSYOPS against terrorists (Italian).
- Quale futuro per la Guerra Elettronica in Italia?: the Electronic Warfare made in Italy after the retirement of the PD.808GE (Italian).
- Difesa Aerea: un nuovo impiego dello strumento aereo: Italian Air Defense post 9/11 (Italian).
- Allarme nei cieli italiani: in-depth description of the interception of a Fokker 50 by ItAF F-104 on Oct. 27th 2001 (Italian).
- Ghiblis over the boot: the story of the AMX in the Aeronautica Militare Italiana.
- Con i G-222 a Timor Est: a detailed description of the Italian contribution to the INTERFET mission in East Timor (Italian).
- Un C-135E terrorizza Sydney: the story of the C-135E that flew above Sydney on May 16th 2002 for a photographic session with a Hawk of the RAAF and scared many Australians who thought the aircraft was an hijacked liner (Italian).
- Oceanic 815 crash location: I studied the flight path of the fictional Oceanic 815 flight from Sydney to Los Angeles and have a new theory dealing with Lost serial’s island location.
- Operazione Giotto: i retroscena: all the details of the ItAF Air Defense operation for the G-8 meeting in Genoa, in July 2001.
- Al centro del mirino: the threats posed to commercial aviation by shoulder SAMs and countermeasures (Italian).
- I cobra di Aviano: the Turkish Air Force detachment at Aviano and the F-16 operations over the Balkans (Italian).
- Operazione Noble Eagle: all the details about the air defense operations post 911 (Italian).
- Flying the Prowler to war: the story of the EA-6B Prowler missions during Operation Allied Force.
- Italian F-104 patches: a collection of all the Italian F-104 related patches.
- Acrobatic flight with the C-27J: a report of my flight inside an Alenia C-27J Spartan.
- Il 9° Stormo: a description of the last operative F-104 wing of the Italian Air Force (Italian).
- Il 14° Stormo: a report about the multipurpose Wing of the Italian Air Force based in Pratica di Mare airbase (Italian).
- Operazione Ghibli: gli AMX in guerra: the 32nd Stormo and the AMX involvement in the Allied Force operation (Italian).
- A Kabul con i C-130 dell’Aeronautica: the shuttle flights of the ItAF C-130s in Afghanistan (Italian).
- La Civil Reserve Air Fleet: the support provided by civilian airlines to the Air Mobility Command (Italian).
- La radiazione dell’ultimo PD.808: the retirement of the last operative PD.808GE (Italian).
- L’NKC-135E in guerra: the “Big Crow” involvement in Iraqi Freedom operation (Italian).
- Una seconda Desert Storm?: the Iraqi Freedom build up and the AEF (Aerospace Expeditionary Force) concept (Italian).
- L’Atmosfera: the Atmosphere (Italian).
- La Turbolenza: a technical description of the turbolence (Italian).
- Scramble!: Col. Agrusti recalls his pilot’s life as interceptor in the midst of the Cold War (Italian).
- Italy’s terrorist scare: On July 21-22 2001, Italy hosted the G-8 summit and because of a terrorist attack, the Italian Air Force and the other Armed Forces provided a defensive shield to the summit.
- Italy at War: a detailed report about the ItAF involvement in Operation Allied Force.
- 72° Stormo: the Italian helicopter school based at Frosinone.
- The Italian shuttle flights to Kabul: the Italian C-130J airlift to Afghanistan
- In volo con Agip 25 (B707 report & walkaround): an AAR sortie with the B707 (Italian).
- Il 5° Stormo: la tana delle vipere: the Cervia based 5° Stormo, equipped with F-16s (Italian).
- Italian F-16s in details: the detailed history of the Italian F-16s with painting details, weapons, pictures (ground and a/a) and walkaround.
- 71° Gruppo: Master of many tasks: a detailed report on the 71° Gruppo operates a diverse fleet to undertake several different roles.
- Il 70° Stormo di..Grazzanise: a detailed report on the 70° Stormo deployed to Grazzanise to undertake training activities during Latina runway reconstruction works. (Italian).
- F-104 pictures from the Troupe Azzurra archive: a collection of some 250 pictures of the F-104 taken in 40 years by the Troupe Azzurra of the Aeronautica Militare (Italian Air Force).
- A day in the life of the 9° Stormo of Grazzanise: a photostory of 2 days spent in Grazzanise in 2003, the last year of service of the F-104 in the Italian Air Force.
- Il 36° Stormo: an in-depth analysis of one of the most famous flying unit of the Italian Air Force (Italian).
- I 90 anni delle Tigri: a report on the 90th Anniversary of the 21° Gruppo, the Italian Air Force Tiger Sqn (Italian).
- Burka Tigers: a detailed analysis of the 21° Gruppo operations in Afghanistan.
- Spotter Day per i 90 anni del 23° Gruppo: a detailed report on the Spotter Day held in Cervia airbase on Jun 20 2008 to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the 23° Gruppo.
- Alla scoperta delle Frecce Tricolori: the most detailed “behind the scenes” of a Frecce’ show. It is a detailed report on the training of the 313° Gruppo based in Rivolto (Italian).
- Italian Air Force (Museo Storico dell’Aeronautica Militare) – Vigna di Valle: an unusual view of the Italian Air Force Museum, located on the Bracciano lake, near Rome.
- 20.000 ore di P166DL3: a report of the ceremony held in Pratica di Mare on Jul. 7, 2004 to celebrate the 20.000 hours of the 71° Gruppo on the “Piaggione” Italian.
- Italian F-104 versions explained: internal and external differences of the various F-104 versions flying with the Italian Air Force.
- Syrian Arab Air Force (SyAAF) in combat: an analysis of the information available about the SyAAF involvement in the Yom Kippur War in 1973.
- Nei panni dello Slow Mover: flying as a Slow Mover target during a Slow Mover Interception sortie of the Trapani-based F-16ADFs.
- Radioactive materials in flight instruments: old flight instruments could contain Radium and other radioactive materials. How to handle them.
- Strumenti di volo…radioattivi: old flight instruments could contain Radium and other radioactive materials. How to handle them (Italian).
- USS Enterprise port visit to Livorno – 1999: the description of a visit aboard USS Enterprise visiting Livorno harbour in 1999 during her Med Cruise.
- Il Futuro: some personal thoughs about the future (Italian).
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I'm the author of "F-104 Storia di un mito", the only official book published by the Italian Air Force to celebrate the retirement of the Starfighter in 2004. I'm also a photographer and my pictures have been used in books, magazines, websites and calendars.
This is a place to talk about military aviation, flying, photography and much more.
The above image was created by Andy Spagna, as a gift for my first trap landing on the USS Nimitz, by modifying a real "Centurion" patch celebrating the 100 arrested landing on the aircraft carrier.
Trying to find the angle of the V actually W of the cylinders
of the Macchi 67 seaplane .
Massimo Mordini ?