At the opening on Saturday 6 March at Torino Esposizioni, around a hundred dignitaries and guests were present, followed by a crowd of onlookers and enthusiasts. The opening ceremony began at 11.00 am on Saturday 6 March, when Air Force General Nello Barale, Commander of the 1st Air Region in Milan, outlined the origins and content of the exhibition. “It is with great satisfaction that we are opening this exhibition in Turin,’ said General Barale, ”which is the cradle of aviation in Italy. Faccioli’s first flights in 1909, the production of the first aircraft engines at the nearby FIAT factory, and Gabrielli’s achievements are just some of the milestones that make me proud to be from Turin, given what the city has contributed to the field of aviation… not to mention Caproni’s first flights in 1910 in neighbouring Lombardy.‘ Subsequently, General Barale and Dr Tom Dealessandri, Deputy Mayor of Turin, officially opened the exhibition with the traditional ’ribbon-cutting’ ceremony to the strains of the Italian Air Force’s March, performed by the 1st Air Region Band. Among the senior military officials present were Air Force General Giampiero Gargini, Commander of the Italian Air Force Schools/3rd Air Region in Bari, Army Corps General Giuseppe Maggi, Commander of the Italian Army’s Training School and Institute of Military Studies, Major General Franco Cravarezza, Commander of the Italian Army’s Northern Military Region in Turin, Admiral Massimo Marchesi, Deputy Commander of the Upper Tyrrhenian Maritime Military Department in La Spezia, Brigadier General Silvio Porcù, Director of the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Milan, Brigadier General Leopoldo De Filippi, Deputy Commander of the Carabinieri Legion of Piedmont and Valle d’Aosta, and Brigadier General Antonio Sasso, Secretary-General of the Air Force Association. In addition to Deputy Mayor Dealessandri, those present included the Deputy Prefect of Turin, Dr Maria Pia Terracciano, the Mayor’s Chief of Staff, Dr Renato Cigliuti, Dr Mary Caccamo representing the Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (MIUR) – Piedmont Regional Education Office, the Director of the National Automobile Museum, Cav. Rodolfo Gaffino Rossi, Dr Federica Luise of Alenia Aeronautica and other dignitaries.
At the press conference on March 5th, in addition to General Barale, General Cravarezza and Cav. Gaffino Rossi, other authoritative personalities also participated, including the General Director of Alenia Aeronautica, Dr Daniele Romiti, the Councillor of the Aero Club of Turin, Eng. Silvano Vallino Costassa, and the Headmaster of the ITIS ‘C. Grassi’ of Turin, Dr Pietro Bovaro.
Accompanied by the background music of the Fanfare, the timeless “Volare” and other themed songs, the visit to the exhibition then began. This exhibition, through a collection of aircraft, simulators, ancient prototypes, historic engines, photographs, and documents, displayed in a chronological pathway with contextual technological development, allows visitors to virtually appreciate flight from its dawn to the aircraft that are central to today's military aviation, which are also used in peacekeeping missions worldwide, and looking towards the future.
Next conferences on the theme:
- Wednesday 10th March, 3:30 PM, “Men and machines in flight – Italo Balbo the aviator”, by Professor Carlo Barbieri, Director of the Institute of Science and History of Military Aeronautics at the Ambrosiana University of Milan;
- Thursday 18 March, 3:30 PM, “The Centenary of Flight in Italy“, by Eng. Giovanni Massimello, with the authoritative contribution of General Barale regarding the evolution of military aircraft, from the First World War to the post-war period, up to future developments.
Multimedia Contributions Video: La7 Saturday 6th March at 8 PM Video: TG3 Piedmont Monday 8th March at 2 PM
