The Ogliari Collection moves from Ranco to Volandia

 The Francesco Ogliari Collection is getting ready to move from its historical and well-known home, in Ranco, to the exhibition halls of the former Caproni factory, in Vizzola Ticino-Somma Lombardo, which are now the headquarters of Volandia.

The details of the project will be presented on Saturday 26 October during an event (by invitation), when the “Volandia-Ogliari Museum” project will be revealed for the first time. Giacomo and Maria Rachele Ogliari will be present at the event “in memory of Francesco Ogliari”, their father, as will the President of the Regional Council, Raffaele Cattaneo, who has given his support. “We’ve organised a genuinely heart-felt tribute in memory of Francesco Ogliari, the ‘father’ of the Museum in Ranco, which came into being as a result of his love, for more than 40 years, of the world of transport. Our territory owes a lot to him, and Volandia wishes to honour him by carrying on his dream,” said Marco Reguzzoni, the President of the Aeronautics Museum Foundation. We should point out that, since its beginning, the Foundation’s statute has called for museum protection for all means of transport, not only aircraft.

Thus, the “Volandia-Ogliari Museum” project could become the turning point for Ogliari’s new collection, which includes very rare pieces and has recently suffered a little in the original location in Ranco (the wagons and locomotives came to the lake shore decades ago). Among the most precious pieces in the railway collection (which formed the first and largest part of the Ranco museum), there are some suburban trams of ATM, Milan’s public transport company, (“Abbiategrasso” tramcar motor, in the photo above), an electric locomotive with a three-phase system, an old rack and pinion, diesel railcar used on the lines run by the company, SILA.

The evening at Volandia will begin with a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new simulator area which has been set up in the first hall, and then, there will be a “flight” on the Air Vergiate professional simulator, to experience the thrill that future pilots will have. Saturday evening will also be an opportunity to start collecting contributions for the association Friends of Volandia, to restore the Fiat G46 aircraft, a gem of Italian aviation which, by their skilful work, will be a fine exhibition piece in the museum’s collection. And we hope, one day, that restored trains and trams will also appear in halls in Vizzola Ticino.