The Aero Club dedicated to Arturo Ferrarin
Founded in 1948, the Aero Club of Varese has a leading role in training pilots in Italy.
The origin of Venegono Airport is in fact a royal decree which determined in the 1930s the creation on site of the first landing airstrip for the troops. In the enclosed metal shack were housed some Officers and a few soldiers. For the first few years, there was no record of any noteworthy events. It was the War which changed that, especially when Milan began to be attacked by the Allied formations. The Venegono field was at this moment promoted to headquarters for a squadron of night time fighter planes. It consisted of six Fiat CR.42 planes, biplanes of old conception that could do little against the latest Allied aircraft but which did what they had to do. Only in later times were the Fiat planes joined by the fighter aircraft Reggiane Re.2001 which were suitable for night time fighter plane flights. After the 8th of September, the field was occupied by German units and by the Italian Social Republic. So it was that Venegono became the headquarters for the Torpedo-bomber Unit Buscaglia which had at its disposal ten SM.79s. After a few missions against Allied ships, the Unit was transferred to Lonate Pozzolo. After the war, the runway was first used by gliding enthusiasts, and then by Macchi Aeronautics which found it convenient to transfer here work that it had previously based around Malpensa. Taking on the role of an airport, Venegono was baptized as “Arturo Ferrarin”.
The leap of quality
The leap of quality, more than by the war, was determined rather by this firm Macchi, which began already in 1946 to move here and to make important installations here. Here, for example, dozens of Vampire fighter planes landed for which Macchi had obtained the contract for revision. Test flights were performed here for all the aircraft that have made the latest fortune for this firm from Varese. Such is the case of the MB326, founder of a successful series of advanced training jets. And it was precisely the availability of this runway, along with the difficulty with expansion of facilities met in Varese, which convinced the firm Macchi to perform a complete and final transfer of the whole business to Venegono. This transfer was completed in the summer of 1993.
The Club has become over the years one of the most important Italian flying schools thanks to its well-organised activities, carried out safely and continuously by qualified flight instructors.