The 60o Stormo, ‘Gruppo Volo a Vela’
History of the Volo a Vela Group goes back to beginning of the 20th century, when it inherited traditions of the Pavullo School in Frignano, founded in 1927. The actual establishment of departments dedicated to training on gliders within the Aeronatica Militare (Air Force) must certainly be attributed to Adriano Mantelli. As a fighter pilot and ace of the Regia Aeronautica Italiana (Royal Italian Air Force) during the Spanish War, he always had great interest in gliding. With this strong passion and interest, he started a small company (SDAM) in 1929 for the construction of gliders.
Moving on to modern times, on 1 January 2013 the Gruppo Volo a Vela (GVV) began transformation towards its current form when the CVV ( Gliding Centre) was merged with the Guidonia Airport Command, assuming functions of a normal Flight Group. On 28 March 2013, the CVV was renamed as Gruppo Volo a Vela. After almost two years, on 15 February 2015, with the activation of 60o Stormo, the GVV finally took on its present form and the wing began to work in the new way.
The Gliding Group consists of two units, the 422nd and the 423rd Squadrons. Major ‘Max’ T, Squadron Commander of 60o Stormo, explained, “Our two squadrons are the operational ‘ arm’ of the Wing, because they take care of all the activities related to flights entrusted to the Wing.
Even though we are operating a full Wing, there are only ten pilots in charge of the GVV and all our pilots are ‘chameleon-like’, every day showing their knowledge of how to adapt to the individual management of every single person who performs flight activities at Guidonia. This ranges from a