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Policing Lombardia

Located in the former Caproni area (next to the Volandia museum) at Milan Malpensa Airport and named after VQA pilot Dr Alberto Addeo, the 2° Reparto Volo Polizia di Stato was the second in order of opening of the eleven Reparto Volos (initially equipped with Agusta Bell 47J helicopters) that have been deployed throughout Italy since 1971 when the Servizio Area della Polizia was created.

The Leonardo UH-139 is the latest addition to the fleet of the 2° Reparto Volo

The service was established on an “informal” level in 1956, when the Traffic Police Corps took over the coordination and planning of rescue operations during the wave of bad weather that hit central and southern Italy.

In 1959, the Milan Traffic Police experimented with the use of helicopters in coordination with ground patrols, an activity that, given the brilliant results, led the Corps Inspectorate to establish its own air service; on 9 October 1963, the Rome and Milan Traffic Police Departments established the first public safety helicopter divisions.

On 5 November 1963, the Milan Helicopter Department proposed to the General Directorate of Public Security that a white identification number be affixed to the roof of cars to facilitate identification from above; the proposal was accepted and subsequently taken as a model by the other police departments.

The establishment of the air service made it necessary to train specialised personnel at air force schools.

On 1 January 1971, a ministerial decree created the Air Service for Public Safety, to which was added the 1° Gruppo Volo at the Pratica di Mare military airfield.

On 20 July 1972 the Helicopter Section was inaugurated at Milan Malpensa, which was upgraded to a Gruppo Volo on 1 January 1973.

There are currently 11 Flight Departments in Italy with a staff of about 800, including pilots and specialists, 60 helicopters and 19 aircraft, which are hierarchically dependent on the 2nd Division of the Central Directorate of General Affairs of the State Police, Special Departments Service.

The P.68 is the workhorse of the 2° Reparto Volo. The four aircraft in the inventory are used for a wide variety of tasks.

Tasks and Activities

Aerial surveillance makes it possible to locate and bypass potential sources of danger, as aircraft and helicopters are equipped with cameras (even two) connected to a control room that can mix the signals and transmit them to the relevant police headquarters.

Of fundamental importance is the interaction with:

– Polizia di Frontiera against smuggling/illegal immigration/terrorism;

– Polizia Stradale/Ferroviaria/Postale/Scientifica to ensure security in the area of competence.

There are also collaborations with:

– Sharpshooters and dog handlers (both units are located in the immediate vicinity of the Flight Department);

– Crime Prevention Units;

– UOPI (Operational Ready Intervention Units), recently created to combat terrorism;

– Air Force and Civil Defence, in search and rescue operations;

– Centro Nazionale Soccorso Alpino e Speleologico (CNSAS) (National Centre for Alpine and Speleological Rescue), with which the police have an agreement.

Aircraft in use with the 2° Reparto Volo Polizia di Stato

AB.212

The unit’s AB.212 undergoing maintenance

The AB.212 helicopter was produced by Agusta, under licence from Bell, with double turbine and rotor with two blades, in use by the Polizia di Stato since 1976, it can carry up to 15 people at a maximum speed of 240 Km/h, with a range of 2h and 40 minutes. Extremely versatile and able to fly at night, it has been used by the 2° Reparto Volo Polizia di Stato since 1997.

P.68 Obs II

The large glass cockpitwindow makes the P.68 isdeal for surveillance missions.

The P.68 aircraft built by Partenavia VulcanAir has great versatility and manoeuvrability. It is particularly suitable for the control of highways and can carry up to 4 persons at a maximum speed of 270 km/h with a range of 4 hours. It has been used by the 2° Reparto Volo since 1987. With the 2° RV, the P.68 is also widely used for organ transports.

UH-139A

The UH-139 on standby at the 2° Reparto Volo platform

The newest type at the 2° Reparto Volo is the Leonardo UH-139 (AW139). The AW139 of the Italian police, called UH-139, includes a HD FLIR of the latest generation, a satellite communication system, a searchlight, a rescue hoist, a cabin console for missions and a HD video downlink.

Staffing

The staff of the 2° Reparto Volo Polizia di Stato consists of highly qualified men, divided into pilots and specialists.

In order to enter the air service, personnel who meet the psycho-physical requirements must undergo highly selective training and

– obtain a helicopter pilot’s licence at the 72° Stormo of the Italian Air Force in Frosinone;

– obtain the fixed-wing pilot’s licence at the 70° Stormo of the Italian Air Force in Latina.

Since 2013, courses have also been held at the PS Training and Flight Standardisation Centre (CASV), located in Pratica di Mare, where pilots transfer to AB-206s or P-68s and can therefore be deployed as soon as they arrive at their destination department; currently this is only possible after attending the CASV courses.

Specialists obtain their qualification at the school for non-commissioned officers of the air force in Caserta.

The 2° Reparto Volo Polizia di Stato employs 60 people, divided into three departments:

– OASV Flight Operations consists, apart from the commander, of seventeen pilots, of which ten are helicopter pilots and seven are aircraft pilots.

– The “Fixed Flight Crew” (specialists) consists of twenty-five people who are not only part of the aircraft crews, but are also in charge of aircraft maintenance.

– General Affairs, consists of twenty-six officials in charge of bureaucratic tasks and infrastructure supervision.

The UH-139 and P.68 together on the 2° Reparto Volo platform
It’s not always sunny in Italy, but usually things clear up easily at MIlan Malpensa airport

Why not cross the Motorway with a Boeing?

In the weekend of 9 February 2019, an extraordinary transport took place next to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. During this weekend, a Boeing 747 was transported from the airport to the nearby Corendon Hotel.

This whole story started a bit like a joke. When KLM announced the gradual retirement of their Boeing 747s, Corendon founder Atilay Uslu thought that it would be a nice idea to buy one of these 747s, paint it in Corendon colours and park it next to the Corendon hotel in Badhoevedorp.

In October 2018 it was announced that Corendon would buy the Boeing 747-400 -BFB “City of Bangkok”. On the 26th of November, this 747 returned from her last commercial flight to Los Angeles.

On the 10th of December, the Boeing was flown to Rome, where it was painted in the colours of Corendon Airlines, she returned to Amsterdam on the 14th of December, which was also the last flight of the PH-BFB. After this final landing, AELS removed the engines and other valuable items like the Auxiliary Power Unit (APU), brakes, fuel pumps and air conditioning.

On the 5th of February 2019 the whole move, that would take a week and which was executed by Mammoet, started. In order to move the Boeing, it was loaded onto a massive, remote controlled, flatbed trailer. The trailerhas 192 individually controllable wheels, that evenly distributed the 160 tons weight of the 747 and the 200 tons weight of the trailer.

The first leg of the move was still at Schiphol Airport, where it covered an 8 kilometer stretch from Schiphol-East towards the Zwanenburg runway. At this point the City of Bangkok left the airport and continued her journey across the meadows towards the hotel.

In order to avoid sinking into the soggy ground, 21000 steel road plates were laid out in order to create an artificial road for the transport. Next to that, 17 ditches had to be crossed, for which temporary bridges were constructed.

The most impressive part of the whole operation took place in the night of 9 February, when the whole transport had to cross the A9 Motorway. In order to do this, the whole A9 was closed for several hours. At that point, first a couple of lamp posts had to be removed, as well as the guardrail in the central reservation.

Then, the transport could slowly creep up to the motorway. Before it entered the tarmac of the motorway however, all 192 wheels of the trailer had to be cleaned, as the authorities did not want to have any mud on the road.

Once the motorway and the adjacent ditch were crossed, the 747 transport could continue through the meadows towards the hotel.

Finally, on the 11th of February, the last stretch was covered. At the hotel, the Boeing 747 had to make 57 turns, in order to rotate it 90 degrees and park it at the final position.

Over there an aviobridge will connect the hotel with the Boeing, which wil serve as an experience center, where visitors can walk on the wings and can experience a 5D flight inside. It will also serve as a visitors centre, where the history of the “City of Bangkok” will be told.

Night photography

Night photography is one of the more difficult things to do. The primary reason is the lack of light, something essential to photography. In order to get decent pictures you need a lot of practice, patience and a tripod will come in handy as well.

Modern DSLR cameras can easily go up to ISO One Zillion without loss of quality, but back in the old days, when you used slide film, a very long shutter time was needed and then still it was a big guess on what the result would be.

As said, modern cameras make it a lot easier, but you still have to know what you are doing. Next to that, quite some correction is required afterwards, as artificial lights have a nasty yellow glance.

This article shows various nightshots throughout the years.

Oldskool: Slides

A Venezuelan Hercules on the platform of Twenthe Airbase
A Venezuelan Hercules on the platform of Twenthe Airbase

An An-12 from Balkan Bulgarian Airways on the platform of Twenthe
A Balkan Bulgarian Airways Antonov 12 at Twenthe

A Belgian Hercules at Twenthe Airbase
A Belgian Hercules at Twenthe Airbase

Digital: Funfair in Hengelo

Emergency Services at Night

A large fire in Enschede
A large fire in Enschede

Firemen in action at a large fire in Hengelo
Firemen in action at a large fire in Hengelo

Aircraft at night

A Swiss Challenger 300 on the platform of Le Bourget
A Swiss Challenger 300 on the platform of Le Bourget

A brand new Embraer ERJ-145AEW amde a stop at Le Bourget during the delivery flight to India
A brand new Embraer ERJ-145AEW made a stop at Le Bourget during the delivery flight to India

The Ecuadorian presidential aircraft was parked at Le Bourget during a visit to Paris
The Ecuadorian presidential aircraft was parked at Le Bourget during a visit to Paris

A Global Express from the German Air Force awaits a VIP at Le Bourget Airport
A Global Express from the German Air Force awaits a VIP at Le Bourget Airport

A United States Air Force C-40 VIP transport at Le Bourget
A United States Air Force C-40 VIP transport at Le Bourget

The Mirage gate guard of Payerne airbase in Switzerland
The Mirage gate guard of Payerne airbase in Switzerland

The Christoph Europa 2 helicopter at the Medisch Spectrum Twente in Enschede
The Christoph Europa 2 helicopter at the Medisch Spectrum Twente in Enschede

The view on this Egyptian Hercules at Le Bourget was unfortunately obstructed by fences.
The view on this Egyptian Hercules at Le Bourget was unfortunately obstructed by fences.

When you take pictures at night, some lights can be rather annoying, as was the case with this Malaysian Global Express
When you take pictures at night, some lights can be rather annoying, as was the case with this Malaysian Global Express

The picture of this Thai Air Force Boeing 737 was also rather tricky due to the large spotlight
The picture of this Thai Air Force Boeing 737 was also rather tricky due to the large spotlight

A US based Gulfstream from the USAF on the tarmac of Le Bourget
A US based Gulfstream from the USAF on the tarmac of Le Bourget

A rare visitor to Le Bourget was this US Marine Corps C-9
A rare visitor to Le Bourget was this US Marine Corps C-9

Egyptian Hercules are frequent visitors to Le Bourget and therefore this nice picture could be taken
Egyptian Hercules are frequent visitors to Le Bourget and therefore this nice picture could be taken