The Italian Aerospace Information Web
by Aeromedia - corso Giambone 46/18 - 10135 Torino (Italy)

Argentinian transatlantic flyers

When a touring aircraft with Argentinian nationality registration lands in an Italian airport everybody should try to understand why. On July 18, 2025, the Mooney M-20J LV-AZZ landed at Turin/Aeritalia airport in total indifference apart from the warm welcome by two long-standing friends of the crew. Pilot Claudio Robetto, of piedmontese origins, and his wife Bettina Raimondi are making a sensational double set of Atlantic crossings. On their way from Argentina to Europe they flew the Northern route while the return to South America will be made along the Southern route with a stopover at the Cape Verde islands.

Claudio and Bettina are no newbies for this type of exceptional undertakings. They already stopped at Turin/Aeritalia airport on July 30, 2023 during their eastbound round the world flight which lasted 124 days, from May 21 to September 29, for a distance of 34,730 Nautical Miles with 63 overnight stops in 16 countries. The couple and their Mooney totalled 279 flight hours from the departure to the return at Balcarce airfield near Mar del Plata.

After a few days of rest in Turin, on July 24, 2025, Claudio and Bettina flew to Massa Cinquale airport where they found an enthusiastic welcoming committee set up by the local branch of the Associazione Arma Aeronautica and included the town's deputy Major, pilots, aviation enthusiasts and a significant number of journalists. A conference centred on the Robetto couple's aviation achievements was also organized by the Tuscan airport managing agency.

In the picture: Mooney M-20J LV-AZZ (c/n 24-0595 built in 1978) of Claudio Robetto and Bettina Raimondi parked at Turin/Aeritalia airport. (Aeromedia)

(Aeromedia, July 2025)