Evening guys,
Last Thursday I was privileged to be part of a group to visit the Italian Navy and the Guardia di Finanza at Grottaglie. The latter of which gave us a private flying demonstration
It was a very special day, as Grottaglie is the home base of the Wolves with their AV-8B+/TAV-8B Harriers
Sadly we didn't get any flying, all airworthy aircraft had been forward deployed whilst work was undertaken on base however the ground crew were busy getting as many of the remaining aircraft ready to go as possible as the unit is now on alert to assist in a little place beginning with S should they be needed. Hence why the specially painted aircrafts tail has been replaced to preserve the scheme.
Anyway, our hosts were superb and it's a day I won't forget for a very very long time.
Andy
AV-8B+ Harrier 1-07 by Andrew Evans, on Flickr
AB-412 MM81452 by Andrew Evans, on Flickr
AV-8B+ Harrier 1-11 by Andrew Evans, on Flickr
SH-90A 3-14 by Andrew Evans, on Flickr
AV-8B+ Harrier 1-10 by Andrew Evans, on Flickr
AV-8B+ Harrier 1-06 1-09 1-19 plus TAV-8B 1-01 by Andrew Evans, on Flickr
SH-90A 3-14 by Andrew Evans, on Flickr
SH-90A 3-12 by Andrew Evans, on Flickr
TAV-8B Harrier 1-02 by Andrew Evans, on Flickr
AV-8B+ Harrier 1-07 by Andrew Evans, on Flickr
SH-3D 6-01 by Andrew Evans, on Flickr
A day at the Wolf's Den - Grottaglie Naval Air Base
Re: A day at the Wolf's Den - Grottaglie Naval Air Base
Splendid stuff, mate! Glad you managed to get a decent one of the T-bird in amongst all that clutter. Something I failed at.
Great stuff.
Great stuff.
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Re: A day at the Wolf's Den - Grottaglie Naval Air Base
Thanks Tom, still surprised our guide pilot hailed from Colchester!
Re: A day at the Wolf's Den - Grottaglie Naval Air Base
Great selection of aircraft there. Thanks for sharing.
Re: A day at the Wolf's Den - Grottaglie Naval Air Base
Did you not ask for the covers to be taken off the Harrier positioned outside..?!
Re: A day at the Wolf's Den - Grottaglie Naval Air Base
PeterR wrote:Did you not ask for the covers to be taken off the Harrier positioned outside..?!
We thought getting them to push it out of the shelter, position it in the way we wanted, then disconnect the tow bar and move it out of the way when the vast majority of the ground crew aren't there but with the forward deployment was pushing our luck far enough.
Re: A day at the Wolf's Den - Grottaglie Naval Air Base
Very nice thanks for sharing Andy
All those Harriers
All those Harriers
"There's only one way of life, and that's your own"
Re: A day at the Wolf's Den - Grottaglie Naval Air Base
Well captured account of the day. We really were lucky weren't we? Hosts who would move whole aeroplanes just for us...and Brucie Bonus NH-90s!
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