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

The Turin and Caselle Leonardo Aircraft Seniores set up their Volunteer Branch

A number of members of the Turin Leonardo Aircraft Seniores Group have set up a Volunteer unit to preserve the company's historical heritage. Most of them are retired, among them being Aeromedia's chief editor. This type of initiative is common in a number of companies with long standing traditions in cutting-edge technologies.

Shortly before this initiative, the company had located a number of existing, but out of service aircraft and parts of historical interest in the first building erected at their Caselle South plant in 1955. The main exhibit was and still is the Ansaldo SVA 9 biplane bought from the USA by the then Aeritalia and brought back in Italy in 1989. It is flanked by the Sky-X remotely piloted jet vehicle, the Eurofighter EFA DA3 prototype and the AMX IX107 (which was the only one of its type modified with the SICRAL equipment). These last two aircraft still however remain the property of the Italian Air Force.

The Turin Branch of the GAVS (Gruppo Amici Velivoli Storici) loaned their FIAT G.91 light fighter and a separate Orpheus jet engine plus a replica of the WW1 Lamperti-Garbagnati aerial camera copied from the original preserved at the Francesco Baracca Museum.

Soon afterwards, for two days each week, the Volunteers began to clean up the exhibited material and undertake a number of small but necessary repairs.

In the picture: Ansaldo SVA 9 construction number 89 built in 1918 on display in Building 50 of Leonardo Aircraft at the Caselle South plant. (Aeromedia)

(Aeromedia, May 2017)