While several vintage military aircraft participated in the event, there were three in particular which stole the show. For this occasion the Aeronautica Militare collaborated with Floridabased Starfighters Aerospace to bring one of that company’s airworthy, Italianbuilt F104s back to the nation of its birth. Former Italian Air Force TF104G MM54258, nicknamed Black Beauty, was shipped from Cape Canaveral to Grosseto Air Base, home to 4° Stormo (4th Wing), and the onetime base of this very airframe. Starfighter Aerospace personnel reassembled the airframe, in cooperation with a former Starfighter crew chief. On Tuesday June 13th, 2023 Black Beauty flew in Italian skies almost twenty years since the type’s last flight over the nation. After flight testing was complete, PierCarlo Ciacchi flew the F104 to Pratica di Mare to join in this weekend’s festivities.