Aeroplane September 2017

ABOVE:

The emblem

adopted by the

cadets on the fi fth

course.

AEROPLANE SEPTEMBER 2017 http://www.aeroplanemonthly.com 59

JET CADETS

at the new Centro Addestramento

Alitalia (CAA) at Rome’s recently

opened Fiumicino airport, 105 cadets

were chosen from more than 2,000

applicants. Transferred in 1961 from

Ciampino, the centre not only trained

the new cadets but also existing pilots

(almost all ex-military) who had to

undergo a basic course to become

Alitalia pilots or to convert onto the

company’s aircraft. To this end its

complex included classrooms, offi ces,

and fl ight simulators for the Vickers

Viscount, SE210 Caravelle and

DC-8-43.

Prior possession of a pilot’s licence

was not considered to be of vital

importance for selection. In fact,

the company actively preferred to

recruit young trainees without fl ying

experience, believing that someone

coming from the general aviation

sector could have acquired a mentality

that was not in line with that required

by an airline pilot.

Successful candidates were sent on

to the theoretical course at the CAA,

where they studied subjects such as

aerodynamics, engines and on-

board systems, aviation law, aviation

medicine, navigation, instruments,

meteorology, the rules of the air and

English. These were all required

for the award of fi rst, second and

third-grade Italian pilot licences,

fi rst and second-class navigators’

licences, and a certifi cate in English

radio-telephony. Classroom studies

occupied six hours daily, but the

programme also included navigation

sessions in the Link Trainer and

familiarisation missions using the

DC-8-43 and Viscount 785

simulators.

Once they had passed

the exams at the end of the

theory course, the cadets

transferred to Brindisi for fl ying

training. There the Aeronautica

Militare had delegated to Alitalia a

portion of the military base, including

aircraft hangars, accommodation for

the instructors and students, briefi ng

areas and technical and administrative

offi ces. The fi rst MB326D, I-ADIA

(c/n 6291/61), arrived on 27 May, to

be followed on 3 June by I-ADIE

(c/n 6292/62), on 8 July by I-ADIO

(c/n 6293/63), and lastly I-ADIU (c/n

6294/64) on 16 July.

Responsibility for the school was

entrusted to Comandante Vernetti, an

Alitalia commander who previously

had been an offi cer pilot with

58-61_AM_Sept17_Alitalia_cc C.indd 59 31/07/2017 10:58