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Q: A few miles away from Aviano Air Base, just outside the town of Ceolini, there’s a commercial jet propped up in a field. What’s up with that?

A: While there have been some instances of planes having to make forced landings in such places, that isn’t the case with this particular jet. Rino DeMarco purchased the plane, which still sports Alitalia colors and logo, at an auction in Venice and had it transported to his field about 20 years ago with the help of a helicopter and some trucks.

While many passengers generally wouldn’t put “plane” and “good food” in the same sentence, this might have become an exception — if the wheels of the Italian bureaucracy moved a bit quicker.

According to his grandson, DeMarco had planned to make the plane into a pizzeria and gelateria. But it took about a decade to get a permit to operate such a business from the local commune and by the time he got it, he decided he didn’t want to put forth all that effort any more.

So the plane, which looks today like it needs a good bath, sits on a few supports while the family figures out what it wants to do with it. A pavilion built near the tail section overlooks a sports field.

And the only passengers are in the cars that drive by a road that runs by just a few feet from the plane’s nose.

Got a question about goings-on Europe? E-mail Stripes at: news@estripes.osd.mil

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