EDICOLA NEWS: THE REVIEWS nr. 299
album: Aeronautica militare 100 years (Panini)
stickers: 164 (1-164)
starter pack: album + 8 packets 7,90€
box: 36 packets (5 stickers per packet) 1,00€ each
Important premise, considering the commitment in social affairs and in the issues of peace that our Association carries out: this album should be reviewed for its historical and didactic value, to celebrate the centenary of an important Italian reality and also for its charm that we will explain in details. Certainly not as a hymn to war or military spending.
Panini has made a big thing this time and looking towards the future has not forgotten the past, its past. We are sure this collection will be loved not only by aeronautics and militaria enthusiasts but also by the many who will feel they are savoring the legendary albums of so many years ago. We noticed it right away, we don’t think we were the only ones: the album is the direct nephew, in format, in the captions, in the proposal, of albums that have driven generations of teenagers crazy, above all when sticker albums, even before books, they were illustrated encyclopaedias, to know and learn.
Another important aspect, perhaps thinking precisely of the type of audience, the album is of good quality and above all of a limited number of stickers. We’ll repeat it over and over again, it’s no longer time for monumental albums, also considering the cost of paper, both for those who sell and for those who buy.
Surely this album is a multi-handed work, our Air Force has not only limited itself to authorizing Panini but has certainly been a useful partner and advisor for the realization. If it is true that the album recalls the past, it is certainly richer in terms of didactic content. It’s been years since we’ve seen an album with so much written inside!
The first part of the album traces the history that is not only military but also technological and social, Italy is changing, it was also noticeable through what flew in the sky. In the captions many curiosities and information that sometimes arrive unexpectedly. It is an institutional, appreciable album, it could not be otherwise, which manages to combine the passion for air with a certain necessary detachment from historical facts, or from what certain events have entailed.
Another important aspect, which renews the excellent consideration of the product, is however not a mere acclaiming our aviation but also considering the missteps. Without taking part or political considerations but renewing the sometimes daring and epic roles that our pilots had, especially in the first half of the twentieth century.
From the 1950s onwards we see rapid technological growth in aviation with ever more sophisticated and faster aircraft. On the other hand, the Air Force is not made up only of Tornadoes and F16s, it is very interesting to discover other aircraft that are also fundamental for the progress of the country and consequently also for that of civil air traffic. While we were all at the cinema watching Top Gun, our planes were engaged in many operations around the world.
This is followed by the second part of the album, didactic but also technical, but absolutely legible, where many planes (and helicopters) from the history of military aviation are presented. A real treat for all enthusiasts, we are sure of it. We would like to be aeronautical technicians to go and discover any errors, but our Aviation is certainly among the best in the world, it is difficult to think of finding any.
The last pages are dedicated to the myth, especially if we think of the past, with ocean crossings, in the highest skies up to even space and the most remote corners of the world, starting with the adventurous exploration of the Arctic in the 1920s.
The stickers are necessarily mainly rectangular, an incredible collection of photos that are worth the purchase for their quality and epicity alone. The photographic archive of the Military Aviation certainly does not leave one indifferent. There are a thousand reasons to collect this album, we have discovered some of them, collectors have the pleasure and curiosity to find the others.
Among the albums of 2023, definitely.
(EN)