Stage of aerobatics at Aeritalia

Saturday, 26 October 2013, in collaboration with the Aero Club of Bresso, the Aero Club Torino organized for its members a stage of ambientation and introduction to elementary acrobatics using a CAP 10 aircraft under the guidance of the Milanese instructor Dario Costa.

The following members enjoyed the thrills of such flights: Sergio Cometto, Joseph Coratella, Gian Piero Grandi, Lorenzo Lupo Drovetto, Davide Marrone, Marco Porrera and Davide Spezini.

Weather permitting, the experience will be repeated in November and we are endeavouring to make this a bi-monthly event as of next year.

Emergency service (118) to go operational by night

On Thursday 17th October a services conference was held to plan the nocturnal operation of the 118 helicopter rescue service.

Representatives from ENAC, ENAV, Piedmont Region/118, AirGreen and the Aeroclub of Turin took part.

This first meeting will be followed by others, but initial agreement was reached for an experimental period up until midnight for several months, start from the end of this year.

Following this test period, the service should become functional 24 hours a day.

Airspace Changes

Our Club member Cosimo Pica, counsellor and advisor to AOPA ITALY and point of contact for Piedmont has advised us of the interesting activities designed to improve the operating conditions for General Aviation and VDS within the national airspace areas.

At the 2013 Annual General Meeting held on June 6 this year at Ozzano Emilia, the President, Rinaldo Gaspari, made the following statement:

<< [ ...] I wish to underline something which we consider to be a historic step forward [...] and that is that the much-needed process of reduction and reclassification of the National Airspace areas has finally got under way. After the somewhat difficult conquest of the Linate Airport CTR, which has been significantly reduced thanks to the AOPA project to the benefit of VFR users, it is now the turn of the air spaces of the North East [...] .

The study, which was submitted on April 21, 2012, initially covering the airspaces of the North East, was developed for AOPA by two of its members: Capt. Marco Grilli and Capt. James Gazzotti [...] .

Judged acceptable by the ENAC Airspace Directorate, it was then submitted to AMI (the Italian Air Force) and ENAV for evaluation and adjustments. The rest is history.

The AIRAC brochure containing the final changes will be issued as soon as possible and foresees a delicate period of experimental evaluation before being made final. >>

Anyone wishing to look at the activities of AOPA Italy may do so by going directly to the site of AOPA Italy :http://www.aopa.it/.

September 22, 2013 - In flight with a smile

Sunday, September 22, 2013, the Aero Club Torino organized the 4th edition of the event aimed at offering the pleasure of flying to the young patients of the Regina Margherita Children's Hospital of Turin.

The event was organized in collaboration with the three non-profit organizations (FMRI, FORM and UGI) of the Regina Margherita Hospital sponsored by the City of Turin and the City of Collegno and with the support of the following sponsors: Alenia Aermacchi, Air BP Industry Borla SpA, Bosch, Cassa di Risparmio di Bra, Euroheat, Ferrero, Fiat, Lavazza, Quercetti, Reale Mutua Assicurazioni, Sales and UniCredit Bank.

The Mayor of Collegno, Silvana Accossato, with Alderman Maccagno, welcomed those present, and in the afternoon, Alderman Stephen Gallo, of the City of Turin, presented certificates to the small aviators.

More than 50 children with parents or guardians were flown for a total of over 130 people. On the day, some 172 movements took place (compared with the of 93 Torino-Caselle airport).

The initiative, which served to give a moment of joy to these children who are ill or otherwise disadvantaged was made possible thanks to the indispensable contribution of the following members, mwho made 20 aircraft available:

- I-CCAH Barollo Juri                                      - D-ENSW Grandi Gian Piero
- D-EEMW Brignone Carlo Filippo                   - D-EPTK Guala Gianni
- N455MC Casati Mauro Elido                        - I-VANZ Gugliotta Filippo
- I-FFSW La Via Fabrizio                               - I-CRSE Menardi Diego - Moriondo Angelo
- I-IABK Coratella Giuseppe                           - I-DARD Moretti Franco
- I-ENDE Demaria Annalisa                            - I-DSKY Pari Paolo - Vallino Costassa Silvano
- D-EAFW Ferrarese Angelo                          - I-BJOE Deledda Dario - Pietrantuono Alessandro
- I-PITU Ferrero Carlo Maria                           - F-GAQL Rampini Giorgio
- I-BUNN Fiorilli Maurizio                               - I-ICES Rizzi Eugenio
- I-FOGS Gazzani Giancarlo                          - I-SRAL Gavioli Aldo - Uga Alberto
and to the many people who made their contribution on the ground: Angelo Albano Ariangena Clare, Ariangena Lydia, Busso Francesca, Dalberto David Di Bari George, Doberti Louis, Druetta Elisa, Ferrero Teresa, Big Manuela, Alessandra Macario, Mazzon Antonio, Musso Alberto, Passuello Tiziana, Porrera Marco, Marco Spelta, Maria Tucci, Vittorio Valesio and Zecchin Daniel.

The media (newspapers and TV) have given space to the event since the press conference on Monday, September 16. We report one of the Articles of Sunday, September 23 which Christina Insalaco published in La Stampa on p. 65

2013_09_23 La Stampa - In volo per un sorriso

Galleria immagini "In volo con un sorriso"

Cloudburst

At 8:10 in the morning of 29 July a violent storm occurred over Turin, causing extensive damage to various structures of our Aero Club.

Particularly affected were the 118 (Rescue Helicopter) hangar and the structures of the outdoor area (tables, chairs and umbrellas) of the restaurant and bar, hurled hundreds of meters, and the gliding clubhouse.

The restoration works has already begun and the damage is estimated at around 100,000 Euros.

Here are some photographs that illustrate the severity of the event.

Mourning in the world of Gliding

With regret, we must announce the death on Sunday, July 21st, of Leonardo Brigliadori (74), the first Italian World Gliding Champion (1985) and a benchmark since then for all Italian glider pilots.

The '"Association of Gold Medals for Athletic Prowess" site published his enviable sports biography :

An athlete of the Larian Gliding Aeroclub (formerly the AVM Alzate Brianza), of which he was President, he became interested in gliding at an early age, following in the footsteps of his elder brother Richard.

Beginning in 1960 he participated in thirteen editions of the World Championships, coming fourth in 1963, sixth in '76, second in '78, fifth in '81, '89 eighth and tenth in '92.

In 1982 in Rieti he won the European title and was third in 1996 in Finland and second in Spain in 2001.

Among the various specialties permitted in the gliding discipline he was seventeen times the Italian Champion.

He had over 6,000 hours in gliders and 700 of powered flight.

His best performance was in Rieti on 11th August '85, when after eleven closely contested races, he won the title of World Champion in the Standard Class, the first won by an Italian aviator.

His most prestigious flight, and Italian record, was accomplished on September 5th '92 when he flew in one single hop from Como to Taranto, nearly 900 km, the entire length of the Italian peninsula.

He was a keen advocate at an international level for the creation of the World Class which was held in Turkey in '97, the first world championship of its type.

He was President and Vice-President of the International Aeronautical Federation on behalf of the Aero Club of Italy.

In 2009 at the World Air Games held in Turin, he was the highly-appreciated Race Director for the Gliding competitions.

He was awarded the title of Knight Officer of the Republic.

Flying day for Collegno school children

Saturday, June 22 in collaboration with the "quality of life" Department of the City of Collegno, a day dedicated to flight of the "pass 15-21" youngsters of the Collegno high school was held.

After a briefing in the classroom by Cmdte. Di Bari and greeting to the participants by Councilor Macagno, 26 people were given flights thanks to the voluntary assistance by Club Members Mauro Casatti, Carlo Maria Ferrero, Filippo Ferrero, Maurizio Fiorilli, Giampiero Grandi, Eugenio Rizzi, Domenico Scaiola and Alessandro Villa.

The morning concluded with a reception offered by the Aero Club.

Giancarlo Grinza wins the 2013 Italian Gliding Championships!

There were 39 entrants in the 2013 Italian Single Class Gliding Championships, which took place in Ferrara between the 7th and 16th of June. Giancarlo Grinza of the Aero Club Torino deservedly won the 2013 title, beating Riky Brigliadori and Mauro Brunazzo in a two-seater with Andrea Acquaderni.

The winning scores were:

1. Giancarlo Ginza Ae.C. Turin 3518 points
2. Riccardo Brigliadori AVA 3410 points
3. Mauro Brunazzo / Andrea Acquaderni ACAO 3269 points

To find a similar achievement by a Torinese glider pilot we need to go back to 1970 when Engineer Carlo Della Chiesa won the title with an FK3 glider, followed by the amazing Nino Perotti, who was the Italian Standard Class Champion in the years 1972, 1973, 1979, 1980 and 1981.

Since then we have not enjoyed much success.

The weather was reasonably good with five flyable days out of six, thus allowing the smooth running of the events.

Simultaneously with the Championships, the promotion-class races, in which our own Laura Valvassori was promoted to the "national" category, also took place.

It was noteworthy that for the first time there was a significant participation by lady pilots in both the Italian Championships and in the promotion category.

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To round off the event in top class style, the legendary Egidio Babbi offered competitors and organizers a splendid final evening with a fish-based meal.

The courses and results are available at www.soaringspot.com

Meeting with the Mayor of Collegno

Wednesday, May 29, 2013, following the proposal of Gianni Pesce, of the association "Collegno Bene Comune", our Club hosted a meeting between representatives of the population of Collegno and the Mayor of Collegno, Silvana Accossato.

In particular of the destination of the area at the south of the airport was discussed and the Mayor herself reconfirmed the firm intention to maintain our airport in full activity, also in view of its function as a public utility.

Our Vice President, Pino Gulotta, and Mauro Casati, President of the Auditors, did the honours of the house on behalf of the Aeroclub.