Museo Storico dell’Aeronautica Militare in Vigna di Valle

Updated: October 2026 – If you drive from Rome toward Bracciano, you do not expect an aviation museum. Yet on the southwest shore of the lake, between reeds and hills, large halls stand right on the water. Here lies the Museo Storico dell’Aeronautica Militare, MUSAM for short, the official museum of the Italian Air Force. It occupies the historic Vigna di Valle seaplane base, which is considered Italy’s oldest airfield.

For spotters Vigna di Valle is a type spot with a clear profile. Instead of airliners in series, you find aircraft here that you do not see at Duxford, Le Bourget or Madrid: the Schneider racers by Macchi, the CANT Z.506 seaplane, Savoia-Marchetti bombers, the Fiat fighters and the Italian jets of the postwar era. This page shows you how to plan your day at the lake and which aircraft you must not miss.

An airfield on the lake: the history of Vigna di Valle

Aviation history at Lake Bracciano begins earlier than at almost any other place in Italy. In 1904 Major Maurizio Mario Moris set up an experimental workshop for aircraft here. In fall 1908 the airship N.1, built by the engineers Gaetano Arturo Crocco and Ottavio Ricaldoni, rose from Vigna di Valle – it is considered Italy’s first military airship. With this flight the airfield was opened, which today is named after the aviator Luigi Bourlot.

From 1910 aerological and meteorological observations were also made here, and from 1912 the site served as a seaplane base. The calm water of the crater lake was ideal for experiments with floats and flying boats. Until 1945 an experimental center for seaplanes and naval armament worked here. The base’s old crest bore the motto “Tutus in undis” – safe on the waves.

After World War II the air force’s air-sea rescue command was stationed at the lake. In 1961 the last seaplanes of the CANT Z.506 type left service, which essentially ended flying operations. The buildings remained standing, and at the suggestion of General Giuseppe Pesce the museum emerged from them. On May 24, 1977, it opened in the presence of President Giovanni Leone. More about the institution itself is on the page for the Museo Storico dell’Aeronautica Militare.

The museum is run directly by the Aeronautica Militare and restores some of its aircraft itself, partly with external partners. Besides aircraft it shows engines, radio and photo equipment, weapons, uniforms and a small art collection with works by the Futurists, who were enthusiastic about flying. According to reference sources, about 100,000 visitors came between June 2023 and June 2024.

How the museum is laid out

The tour follows time. According to the museum, the exhibits are spread across six exhibition areas, five of which are aircraft halls. Each hall has its own name:

Hall	Period	What you find there
Hangar Troster	Beginnings to 1918	Balloons, airship memorabilia, World War I aircraft
Hangar Velo	Interwar period	Schneider racers, polar and Atlantic flights
Hangar Badoni	World War II, early postwar period	Fighters, bombers, seaplanes, transports
Hangar Skema	Jet age	Italian and Allied Cold War jets
Hangar 100	1952 to the recent past	Aerobatic teams, transports, spaceflight
Outdoor grounds	various	Large aircraft on the lakeshore, memorials

In addition there is an area with engines and simulators. According to the museum, the simulators are currently unavailable because of software updates (as of October 2026).

Hangar Troster: pioneers and World War I

Hangar Troster is an exhibit in itself. It is considered Italy’s oldest surviving aircraft hangar and came from Austria after World War I as war reparations. Inside it is about the time before aircraft were built in series.

• Garnerin’s balloon (1804): one of the oldest pieces in the collection.
• Seaplane by Crocco and Ricaldoni: an early attempt by the two airship engineers, directly tied to the lake.
• Wright replica and Blériot XI: the types with which flying gained a foothold in Italy.
• SPAD S.VII and Hanriot HD.1: World War I fighters, including, according to reference sources, the SPAD of Fulco Ruffo di Calabria.
• Ansaldo S.V.A.5: the type with which Italian aviators dropped leaflets over Vienna in 1918.
• Caproni Ca.36 and Lohner L: an early bomber and an Austrian flying boat.

For the biplanes you do not need a big lens, but patience: wire bracing and wooden frames look best in detail. If the many early types look alike to you, the article Recognizing vintage aircraft in the sky helps.

Hangar Velo: the heart of the seaplane base

If you come to Vigna di Valle for the seaplanes, you spend most of your time here. In the interwar period Italy fought mainly with Great Britain and the USA for the Schneider Trophy, a speed competition for seaplanes. The museum shows the racers Macchi M.39 and M.67 as well as the Fiat C.29.

The showpiece is the Macchi M.C.72. With it Francesco Agello set a speed record of a good 709 km/h in October 1934 that has still not been broken for piston-engined seaplanes. The slender aircraft with the huge floats and the contra-rotating propellers is a dream for photographers: side view, floats, nose – every perspective tells something.

Beside it you find memorabilia of two great chapters of Italian aviation:

• Umberto Nobile’s polar flights with the airships Norge and Italia – the museum’s documentation center bears Nobile’s name.
• Italo Balbo’s Atlantic formation flights with flying boats in the early 1930s.

Also standing here are the biplane fighters Fiat C.R.32 and C.R.42, the seaplanes IMAM Ro.43 and Ro.37 and the Campini-Caproni CC.2. It flew in 1940 with a motorjet drive and is considered the first Italian aircraft with jet propulsion.

Hangar Badoni: World War II and seaplanes

Hangar Badoni was built in 1930 and is the hall of the big silhouettes. Here stand the fighters of the Regia Aeronautica with which Italy went into World War II: Macchi M.C.200, M.C.202 and M.C.205, the Fiat G.55 Centauro and the Reggiane Re.2002. Beside them you see the opponents and later partners: a Supermarine Spitfire Mk IX and a P-51 Mustang, which flew with the Italian Air Force after the war.

For bomber fans the Savoia-Marchetti S.M.79 “Sparviero” is the target – the three-engine bomber and torpedo bomber with the distinctive dorsal hump. Its sister, the S.M.82 “Marsupiale,” is according to reference sources the only surviving example of its type.

And then there is the seaplane that tells the story of the place best: the CANT Z.506 Airone. Three engines, with large floats, originally developed as a transport and mail aircraft. Aircraft of this type flew at Vigna di Valle until 1961 for air-sea rescue, before flying operations at the lake ended. The hall is complemented by a Douglas C-47, the Fiat G.212, a Fieseler Storch and the IMAM Ro.41.

Hangar Skema: Italy’s jet age

In Hangar Skema the collection moves into the postwar years, when Italy became part of NATO and rebuilt its air force with American and British jets. Here you find, among others:

• North American F-86 Sabre and de Havilland Vampire as the first jets of the Aeronautica Militare.
• Republic F-84 Thunderjet and Thunderstreak, the fighter-bombers of the 1950s.
• Lockheed F-104 Starfighter – Italy flew the Starfighter longer than almost any other country, most recently in its own version, the F-104S.
• Fiat G.91 in several variants, the light NATO ground-attack aircraft from Turin.
• Aerfer Sagittario II – according to reference sources the first Italian aircraft to break the sound barrier – and the further development Ariete.
• AMX and trainers by Aermacchi.
• Panavia Tornado F3, the fighter version that Italy leased from the RAF in the 1990s.
• Grumman S-2 Tracker, a piston-engined anti-submarine aircraft.

Missiles and a model of the SIRIO satellite round out the hall. If you know the air force’s current types, you recognize their predecessors here.

Hangar 100: aerobatic teams and transports

The newest hall was completed in 2023 and expands the museum by about 1,800 square meters. It covers the period from 1952 to the recent past, with a clear focus on the aerobatic teams of the Italian Air Force. Before the Frecce Tricolori, Italy had several teams, such as the “Tigri Bianche” with F-84G – a Thunderjet in their colors belongs to the collection. According to reference sources, the museum also shows a G.91 and an MB-339 in the colors of the Frecce Tricolori; in which hall they currently stand, you will see on site. The whole history of the team is in the article Frecce Tricolori.

Beside that, the hall shows transport and liaison aircraft such as the Piaggio P.166M and the Piaggio-Douglas PD-808, an Italian business jet. Thematic areas are devoted to helmets, propellers and the astronauts of the Aeronautica Militare. On the virtual museum map modern types such as the Eurofighter also appear – what of it currently stands where, you will see on site.

The outdoor grounds on the lake

Between the halls and the shore, larger aircraft stand under open sky. According to reference sources they include a Grumman HU-16 Albatross, a postwar amphibious aircraft of the sea rescue service, a Breguet Atlantic as a maritime patrol aircraft (its successor is the Atlantique 2), an F-16 that Italy leased in the early 2000s, and Piaggio types. Memorials come on top, among others for the crew of the airship Italia.

Here lies the place’s real strength for photographers: you get aircraft and water in one picture. Make sure the lake is not blown out, and when shooting into the light, rather underexpose slightly. You may not enter the beach in front of the museum, though – it is not part of the visitor area.

Light and photography

In the museum the hall lighting matters more than the sun position. In Troster, Velo and Badoni the aircraft stand close together, wings overlap, and large types like the S.M.79 can hardly be fully framed without a wide-angle lens. Expect a higher ISO and a fast standard zoom. A flash rarely makes sense because it creates reflections on polished surfaces and glass cases.

Outdoors the usual rule applies: at midday the sun is steep, creating harsh shadows under wings. You get even light in the morning and late afternoon, and all day in light overcast. Where the sun is over the lake at what time you can see at home with the sun position planner in Planetrack – more in the article Planning the sun position.

Getting there: car, FM3 and bus

The museum is on the southwest shore of Lake Bracciano, a good 30 kilometers as the crow flies northwest of the center of Rome.

• Car: From Rome you take the Via Cassia to La Storta and then the Via Braccianese-Claudia for about 18 kilometers to the turnoff for Vigna di Valle. Alternatively, a route leads along the lakeshore via Anguillara Sabazia. You park in the designated areas and walk from there to the entrance. For people with disabilities there are spaces right at the entrance.
• Train: The regional train FM3 runs from Roma Ostiense and Roma Trastevere to Bracciano.
• Bus and taxi: From Bracciano the local bus D/1 runs from Piazzale Pasqualetti, from Anguillara line B (weekdays only). There are taxis in Bracciano and Anguillara.
• From the airport: From Fiumicino you take the FM1 to Roma Trastevere and change to the FM3. From Ciampino you take a bus to Metro Anagnina, Metro A to Valle Aurelia and there the FM3.

Combining Vigna di Valle with other spots

Because nothing flies at the lake anymore, combining it with Rome’s two airports makes sense. Rome Fiumicino Airport is the hub of ITA Airways, the successor of the historic Alitalia, with lots of long-haul and guests from all over the world. The best locations there are described in the article Plane spotting at Rome Fiumicino. With the FM3 and the FM1 you can get from the museum to there without a car.

Rome Ciampino Airport is interesting for military fans: the air force’s 31° Stormo is based here, which flies state flights for the government and presidents. How to behave around military grounds is summarized in the article Photography at military airfields.

If Europe’s great aviation museums appeal to you, Volandia at Milan Malpensa Airport, the Museo del Aire in Madrid-Cuatro Vientos, the Musée de l’Air in Le Bourget and IWM Duxford are in a similar league. Many Italian types at Vigna di Valle come from companies that are now part of Leonardo – including Aermacchi and Fiat’s aircraft division, which led there via Aeritalia and Alenia.

Rules in the museum

The museum is on air force grounds. Follow the staff’s instructions, do not cross barriers and do not touch the exhibits. Smoking is prohibited, as are eating and drinking in the exhibition. Private photos and videos are allowed; for commercial shooting you need permission in advance from the Air Force General Staff. Small animals are allowed if you carry them or bring them in a carrier.

Individual visitors and families do not need a reservation. Groups of 20 or more, clubs and school classes register with the visitor service. The museum also offers its own app with an audio guide and a virtual tour on its website – handy for setting priorities beforehand.

If you want to lend a hand yourself: many museums in Europe live off volunteers helping with restorations. How that works is described in the article Volunteering at aviation museums.

Conclusion

Vigna di Valle is the museum for everyone who wants to understand Italian aviation. The place itself helps tell the story: here the country’s first military airship rose in 1908, here seaplanes landed on the lake for decades. In addition come aircraft you hardly see otherwise – the Macchi M.C.72, the CANT Z.506, the S.M.79 and S.M.82, the Campini-Caproni CC.2 and a long row of Italian jets.

The price for that is getting there. By car the lake is quickly reached, by train and bus you need some planning. If you come early, don’t rush Hangar Velo and combine the visit with Fiumicino or Ciampino, you get a spotting day in Rome that combines past and present.