Pioneer Team – How it all started
Our first and only meeting with the Italian aerobatic team took place at Szeged Aviation Days & Air Parade 2016. They participated as guests at the first edition of the air show organized at the Szeged International Airport. It was founded in 2005 in the Province of Pordenone, Italy, by Corrado Rusalen. He is the Team Leader and founder of Alpi Aviation company. In their flight, you can see the influences of the Italian military aerobatic team Frecce Tricolori. This is because they benefited from the support, advice, and training of six former military aerobatic pilots of the aerobatic team Frecce Tricolori. These retired military aerobatic pilots organized the entire aerial program for air shows and aviation events with the Pioneer Team members.
Team Members
The team has a total of seven members. Of these five are pilots and two are ground technicians. These are: Corrado Rusalen – Team Leader, pilot, and flight instructor for planes and helicopters, with over 8000 flight hours; Silvia Rappo – left-wing pilot with over 1200 flight hours. She is licensed to fly both airplanes and helicopters; Marco Savini – who has accumulated over 1550 flight hours so far, shares the left wing position with Silvia Rappo; Alberto Biagetti is a former military and airliner pilot with over 13000 flight hours. He used to fly military planes, such as SIAI-Marchetti SF.260, Aermacchi-MB326, Fiat G.91, Lockheed Martin F-104 Starfighter, and civilian airliners, such as McDonnell Douglas MD-80 and Boeing B-747. As a Pioneer Team member, he flies the Pioneer 300 or the Pioneer 330 Acro. He is also the team Safety Manager; Sandro Nicosanti – right-wing pilot. In over 20 years of flying, he has accumulated over 2500 flight hours. He joined the team over three years ago; Pierluigi Tassi and Mattia Brunetta are the ground technicians who ensure the Pioneer 330 Acro planes run smoothly and without problems.
Pioneer 330 Acro
When they first started flying, the team used Pioneer 300 aircraft produced by the Italian company Alpi Aviation. They later switched to the Pioneer 330 Acro, a cote-a-cote two-seater. Developed in 2004, these planes are equipped with 100 HP Rotax ULS2 engines, retractable landing gear, variable pitch propeller, and smoke system for aerobatic evolutions. The structure has been strengthened for load factors varying from + 6G to – 3G. The total weight of the Pioneer 330 is 530 kg. The maximum speed is 270 km/ h, and the cruising speed is 240 km/ h. The maximum flight altitude is 6000 meters. The Pioneer 330 Acro aircraft are painted white, red, and blue.
Airshows
During its 15 years of existence, the team has participated in numerous air shows and aviation events in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, South Korea, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, Greece, Germany, Italy, Japan, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Hungary, Slovakia and Spain. They have specialized in formation flight with moderate evolutions. These evolutions are accompanied by pyrotechnic effects. The formation flight that the Pioneer Team performs during 15-20 minutes of aerial evolution demonstrates elegance and precision. It is like a “dance” in the sky. This is due to both the qualities of the Pioneer 330 Acro aircraft and the skills and passion of the Pioneer Team pilots.
