Thursday, March 22, 2001

By Gary J. Kunich
Aviano bureau

Gary J. Kunich / Stars and Stripes Four-year-old Kage Krol, in his father's arms, and other keeps his eyes trained on the sky for the air show practice by the Frecce Tricolori.

AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy — Instead of lots of loops and dives, gray skies and low ceilings Wednesday at Aviano prevented Italy’s premier air demonstration team from showing off some of its fancier air work.

There were plenty of flybys and the occasional dip or roll, but bad weather limited the 20-minute Frecce Tricolori performance — the first of its kind in 2001 outside its home base of Rivolto, about 30 miles from Aviano.

Lt. Col. Maurizio de Rinaldis, the team’s commander, said it was a chance to put practice into action before taking the show to Morón, Spain, in about 20 days for the first official event of the year.

The season normally lasts from May through September, but there is a special event planned for November in the United Arab Emirates. There aren’t any shows planned at U.S. bases this year; de Rinaldis said some will be added next season.

Akin to the Thunderbirds or Blue Angels, the Frecce Tricolori — or "three-colored arrows" — travel around the world in MB-339 aircraft. Painted blue on top and green, white and red on the underbelly to represent Italy’s flag, the 10 aircraft that normally make up the team perform a variety of feats as they soar through the sky. Only eight aircraft participated in the Aviano practice.

Even if the bad weather prevented some of those feats Wednesday, 4-year-old Kage Krol wasn’t disappointed.

Staff Sgt Mitch Fuqua / 31st Communications Squadron The Frecce Tricolori, Italy's precision flying team, performed a 20 minute show of flybys, dips and rolls at Aviano Wednesday despite less than stellar weather.

"I like them because they’re airplanes and they’re cool," he said.

He busied himself twirling around with a toy airplane before the show began. But when the Frecce Tricolori finally burst across the sky, he jumped into his dad’s arms and focused his eyes skyward.

About a hundred Aviano troops and family members gathered near the end of one flightline to watch the practice.

"We aren’t disappointed in the weather because if we have to train in bad weather, then it is good training for us," de Rinaldis said.

The team has performed twice in the United States, most recently around the Statue of Liberty in 1992. But it gained notoriety around the world when it was involved in a devastating crash in July 1988 at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

"We learned a lot from that tragic accident," de Rinaldis said. "We study so we don’t make the same mistake."

One Italian onlooker said it looked like the team was holding back during Wednesday’s show.

"It’s too dangerous to do the exciting maneuvers because they can’t even see each other up there," he said.

But so no one left too disappointed, the Frecce Tricolori ended its show with much green, white and red smoke pouring out across the sky, and upped the ante with a few extra twirls and dips.

Kage was impressed.

"When they were on fire," he said, "that was the best part."

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