Aviation Photography - Volandia Parco e Museo del Volo Malpensa

Volandia Parco e Museo del Volo Malpensa
(Volandia Park and Museum of Flight)
Milan-Malpensa Airport, Italy
March 2017 and June 2023

The original Caproni company buidings.

A Caproni hangar.

The Volandia museum is situated on the original site of the former industrial premises of the Caproni company at Somma Lombardo. Cut off from the now international Milan Malpensa airport for aircraft movement, it still can however be reached by foot with a 10-15 minutes walk from terminal 2. It feels very authentic with its period buildings. Considerable progress has been made since the museum opened in 2010.

The museum also presents a very modern look with a bright building with aircraft hanging from the roof and polished floors. Moving around the other hangars there are several dioramas to portray the exhibit in a more realistic way. I am not always in favour of these but in these cases it works well. Annoyingly for photographers some of the exhibits have flashing multi-coloured lighting.

On the extensive site there are buildings used for a car museum and for storage. There is also a workshop used for restorations and a restoration hangar. In restoration in 2017 was a very rare Reggiane Re.2002, which was pulled up from the depths Mediterranean after 60 years of salt water corrosion, which had taken its toll. It was being restored in an out building. I would like to add that much of this restoration mostly appears to be of new materials, how much of it that is original I am not sure.
On display in 2017 were two very well produced replicas of a Macchi MC-205 Veltro and a Macchi MC-202 Folgore. In 2023 more replicas were seen; a Bleriot XI, Ansaldo SVA-5 and a Savoia S.55 was being assembled for display. I have chosen not to present photographs of these as they are not real aircraft.

Left to right:
Fiat G.46-4A (MM53284 'Z-18' registered I-AEHQ). With the Italian Air Force till 1959. Restored after 45 years of display outside by Amici di Volandia, put on display in 2014.

Left to right:
Avia FL-3 (MM56323 registered I-BIOU).
Macchi MB.308 (I-FABR).

Left to right:
North American T-6H-2M Harvard (MM54148 'RM-10').

Left to right:
Stinson L-5 Sentinel (MM52882 previously 42-99119 registered I-AEEL). Restored by GAVS Turin in 1992-94 in the livery used by the Allied Forces on D-Day.

Left to right:
Douglas C-47B Dakota IV (KJ952 registered I-RAGF).

Left to right:
Caproni Ca.113 (I-MARY) from 1931 was an advanced training biplane produced in Italy and Bulgaria in the early 1930s set records. Ace pilot Tito Falconi achieved the world record for inverted flight, while flying in a Ca.113 from St. Louis to Chicago in 1933. Renato Donati also flying a Ca.113 with an extended wing achieved a world altitude record of 47,352 feet (14,433 meters) on April 11, 1934. In 1935 Contessa Carina Negrone achieved the women's world altitude record of 39,400 ft (12,010 m).
Mario de Bernardi's win of the aerobatic trophy at the 1931 Cleveland Air Races in a Ca.113. Exhibited at Volandia, I-MARY is the sole surviving Ca.113 and was the personal airplane of de Bernardi till the late 1950s. He was probably gifted the airplane by the Caproni family during the war. Then it was in a more attractive colour scheme, of all black with red and yellow 'bird wings' and fuselage trimming. After the war it was reskinned with new fabric and aluminium finish. Following de Bernardi’s death in 1959, it was presented back to the Caproni family to be exhibited for some years in the Volandia buildings. Later it was stored in the Caproni Villa at Venegono until its sale to the Volandia Museum in 2011.

Left to right:
Caproni Ca.1 dating back to 1910. It was transferred from the workshops to the Caproni Museum at Taliedo in 1939 before its move to the Caproni villa at Venegono Superiore until 2007.

Left to right:
Caproni Ca.18 (231) from 1913 it was used for reconnaissance from the early stages of World War One. This example was the sixth in production delivered in 1914. Recently restored by Celin Avio it is owned by the Caproni family.

Left to right:
CVV.6 Canguro (MM100002 registered I-IULI).
Sezione Sperimentale EC.40 Innominato (I-CNVR).
Ciani EC.38/56 Urendo B (I-AVMI) built by Sezioni Sperimentale di Volo a Vela (SSVV) in 1958.

Left to right:
Cobstruzione Aero Taliedo CAT-20 (I-ZAGO) from 1934.

Left to right:
SIAI-Marchetti SM.80bis (I-ELIO). Not seen in 2023.
Gabardini Idrovolante (I-AXAC). This is the only survivor of only a handful of Idro's that were built in the 1910's.

Left to right:
Republic F-84F Thunderstreak (MM53-6805 '50-30').

Left to right:
North American F-86K Sabre (MM55-4812 '51-3').

Left to right:
de Havilland Vampire FB.6 (J-1159 '6-8' registered F-AZHJ) Swiss Air Force.

Left to right:
Lockheed F-104S-ASA-M (MM6737 '9-51') of 10º Gruppo.

Left to right:
Lockheed F-104G Starfighter (20+37) ex WGAF.
Fiat G.91PAN (MM6244 '10') with "Frecce Tricolori" Italian Air Force.

Left to right:
Fiat G-91R (MM6308 '2-16').

Left to right:
Aermacchi MB.326 (MM571).

Left to right:
Aeritalia-Embraer AMX (MMX599) ex 3 RMV.

Left to right:
Aermacchi MB.339 CD (I-AMDA).

Left to right:
SIAI-Marchetti S-211 (I-SIJF and I-SITF).
Leonardo M-346A Master (CPX616).

Left to right:
SIAI-Marchetti (S-211 (I-SMTE) 'JPATS'.
Caproni Vizzola C.22J (I-CAVT) from 1985. A two-seater it is the last twin-jet aircraft built in Vizzola Ticino and the last to bear the Caproni name.

Left to right:
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21PFM (6911) Polish Air Force. Restored by ASAS and Amici di Volandia.

Left to right:
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15bis (1397) ex Czech Air Force. Restored by ASAS and Amici di Volandia.

Left to right:
North American F-51D Mustang (MM4309) 92a Squadriglia C.T. of 2° Stormo, recovered from Lake Garda December 2016.
Bell YR-12A (46-0217) from 1946.
Fokker S.11 (). There are spare S.11 wings stored in the restoration hangar ready for a possible restoration.

Left to right:
Douglas DC-9 (MM62021).
Mooney M.20E (I-CCAA).

Left to right:
Aermacchi-Lockheed 60 (I-MACE).

Left to right:
Jodel D9 Bébé () from 1948.

Left to right:
Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 Sparviero (MM23843 previously L-114, LR-AMD) which was salvaged in the Lebanon in 1993. The Lebanese Air Force ordered four SM.79s in 1946, which were delivered in 1949 and used as military transports until their retirement in the mid 1960s.
The restored instrument panel from a fourth Lebanon SM.79 (MM21150, L-111, LR-AMA) is also on display here.
The diorama is depicting the SM.79 found in the Libyan desert. On July 21st, 1960, an investigation team found the mummified body of Italian Air Force Sergeant Major John Romanini near the airfield at Gialo-Giarabud. Keys bearing the legend 'S.79 MM23881' were on the man’s body. It had disappeared following an attack on a British convoy in the Mediterranean on April 21st, 1941.

Left to right:
Agusta Bell-47J (MM80495 'CC-19' painted as 'I-MINR'). It is painted in the yellow livery of the AGIP oil company identical to the one used by the search team in 1960 that found the SM.79 in the diorama above.
AgustaBell AB-205 (MM80551 'EI-299') based on UH-1H. Escercito Aviazione dell'Esercito (AVES).
SIAI-Marchetti SM.1019A (MM52272 'E.I.479') Escercito Aviazione dell'Esercito AVES (Italian Army Aviation).

Left to right:
AgustaWestland AW-129CBT Mangusta (MM81434 'EI-964') Aviazione dell'Esercito AVES (Italian Army Aviation).
Agusta A129 Mangusta MM590) Aviazione dell'Esercito AVES (Italian Army Aviation).
AgustaWestland AW101