[Gian]

There's a piece of news bouncing from a site to another: members of the "Ariete" Rgt. operating in Afghanistan found the wreckage of some old Italian aircraft during a routine patrol in the NE outskirts of Kabul. The presence of such wreckage in Afghan territory had been earlier notified to the expeditionary force by Dr. Gianandrea Gaiani, director of the "Analisi Difesa" magazine, who quoted the testimony of well-known aviation historian Dr. Gregory Alegi.

The wrecks have been identified as IMAM RO 37, fighter/recon biplanes manufactured in Italy from 1937. 16 of them were sold to Afghan forces in 1938.
Their condition is not good: only the metal skeletons with small traces of original fabric can be seen. The wings are seriously damaged and some parts of the load bearing structure are missing. On the other hand, the PIAGGIO P.X.R. engines seem to be in good condition. These radial 9-cylinder air-cooled engines were capable of developing a speed of 310 km/h at low height.

Given their deployment and their capability to operate up to 6000 metres, the aircraft were equipped with two oxygen bottles, still found within some fuselages.
The tyres are worn-out by the elements, yet they still show the writing "PIRELLI MILANO"; same for the tags reading "AEROPLANI ROMEO NAPOLI", serial numbers and a date - 22.06.1937 - on an oxygen bottle, confirming the authenticity of the material and giving it an exceptional historical value.

In spite of the condition of the aircraft, this find has an enormous importance for the history of the Italian Air Force since they may be the only examples of RO 37 left in the world.

[Tankredi]

Are there any pictures of the wrecks avaiable?

[Gian]

Here are the only two around - from the press. The caption mirrors almost exactly my first post.

[Joseph Salemi]

Were these aircraft lost in some kind of combat? Or did they just get dumped in this remote spot? Surely the Afghan air force has some record of what happened to the planes.

[Gian]

Joseph Salemi said:

Were these aircraft lost in some kind of combat? Or did they just get dumped in this remote spot? Surely the Afghan air force has some record of what happened to the planes.

DOES the Afghan Air Force still exist? I don't think there are any records left on their operational career. Surely their memory in that poor and war-torn country would have been totally lost had it not been for those Italian soldiers who made the discovery.

[Lupo Solitario]

Gian said:

Joseph Salemi said:

Were these aircraft lost in some kind of combat? Or did they just get dumped in this remote spot? Surely the Afghan air force has some record of what happened to the planes.

DOES the Afghan Air Force still exist? I don't think there are any records left on their operational career. Surely their memory in that poor and war-torn country would have been totally lost had it not been for those Italian soldiers who made the discovery.

subscribe: with all the sh*t happened in that country from 1980 to day, God only knows what the hell could have been happened to afghan archives...

[Joseph Salemi]

Lupo! You used a BAD WORD!

[sergemaster]

I'm suprised like what Lupo said, that with all the sxxt that went down there, it wasn't either "blown up" by a stray soviet round, or ripped to shreds by the natives and used to make huts, or drinking troughs fro the animals. Go figure....


A NOI!!

[BRY]

Vince has some pics of that Ro.37 from Afghanistan,now in a museum in Rome.

http://stormomagazine.com/phpbb2/viewto ... ?p=346#346

[Gian]

As of yesterday, the complete RO.37 reconstructed from the three examples has been put on display at Volandia museum, adjacent to Malpensa (Milan) airport.