Memory

Two of the authors, Roberto Chiarvetto and Michele Soffiantini, with the support of the Italian Air Force Museum, designed and set up the permanent exhibition "In Search of Zerzura", putting on display a rich selection of pictures, documents, awards and memorabilia of the pilots and observers that carried out the flights. Most items were donated to the MUSAM by the Caselli, Lordi, Pontiroli and Vittani/Castellli Guzzardo families to preserve the memory of their beloved ones and make them available to a wider audience.

Several other items are on display, to better contextualise the exhibition: two flight logbooks on loan from the State Archives (ACS) and the Air Force Archives (AUSSMA), a scale model of the biplane used in the missions, sand and objects recovered from the actual places, plus the only known surviving example of the camera which took the pictures of the flight, originally belonging to the 1928 North Pole Nobile expedition, part of the original MUSAM collections and on display in the corresponding showcase.

The exhibition was officially opened on 7 May 2016 by Col. Vittorio Cencini, Commander of the Vigna di Valle Airbase, Lt. Col. Pierluigi Poletti, MUSAM Director, Lt. Col. Fabio Ruggieri, MUSAM Vice-Director and Maj. Marco Bovesecco, head of the collections, before Gen. Basilio Di Martino and members of the families who donated mementoes and memorabilia. The exhibition is placed in th Velo hangar beside the Fiat CR.42.