Piana delle Orme, located near Borgo Faiti is a historical park about 100km south of Rome. It focuses on the history of the area and has a very interesting collection including aircraft, tanks, locomotives etc. One of our aviagraphers went south on one of the many ways leading from the ancient city of Rome, to indulge in a surprising display of contemporary history!
If an aircraft is displayed nose inwards at the entrance, an aviagrapher has only one choice: to picture the entrance from the back…
A rare former Italian air force Fairchild EC-119G Flying Boxcar is displayed in the central area of the museum between the barracks. With a wide angle, the large aircraft could just be framed as a whole!
The new star of the outside aircraft display is the Lockheed PV2 Harpoon. After a lengthy restoration, which led to this immaculate look, it was donated to the museum for display. It is said to be the only PV2 in Europe!
Italian aviation designer Piaggio is widely known for push propulsion. The Piaggio 166 was widely used by the Italian armed forces, as can be seen here, in the outfit of the Guardia di Finanza in white/grey colours and Aeronautica Militare in camouflage.
The Guardia Finanza uses helicopters and fast boats to halt those trying to reach the long Italian coastline with contraband or illegal immigrants.
Two generations of Italian jet trainers are displayed in the aviation part of the museum. The very successful Macchi MB326 in orange, which saw wide use in Italy and abroad...,
...and the privately developed SIAI S211, which failed to attract the attention of the Italian air force, which opted for the MB339 as a logical MB326 successor.
The North American T-6 Texan became the standard trainer for NATO countries after the Second World War, and was also widely used in Italy. This immaculately restored T-6H-2 cannot be missed in Borgo Faiti.
Very rarely found in Europe, this Curtiss P-40L Kittyhawk made a crash landing in the area during the liberation of Italy in 1943. It is well preserved in one of the barracks, and one of the star-exhibits of the museum.