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Aermacchi MB-326

The Aermacchi or Macchi MB-326 is a light military jet trainer designed and produced by the Italian aircraft manufacturer Aermacchi. It is one of the most commercially successful aircraft of its type, being bought by more than 10 countries and produced under licence in Australia, Brazil and South Africa. The MB-326 was developed during a period when "all-through" jet training was considered by many air forces to be the most cost-effective model for training of military pilots. Accordingly, Aermacchi designed it as a single type of aircraft that could readily perform both elementary and advanced training right through to a near combat-ready standard. After it was proposed during the 1950s, the Italian Air Force (AMI) quickly became interested in the MB-326, and an initial contract to produce three prototypes was issued following a competition. Several design refinements were made prior to the AMI, giving its official approval of the project during 1956. On 10 December 1957, the first prototype performed its maiden flight. On 15 December 1958, the Italian government ordered 15 pre-series aircraft; further orders soon followed. During February 1962, the MB-326 formally entered service with the AMI. Operational experience with the type demonstrated that the advantages of operating just one type for all training purposes, being simplicity and economy of scale, were usually outweighed by the disadvantages, namely the higher purchase and operating costs of a large all-jet training fleet. Many operators therefore soon switched to operating the MB-326 in conjunction with a cheaper piston-engined type for basic training purposes. Over time, the MB-326 found its primary role as a lead-in trainer to prepare pilots for transition to very high performance fighter aircraft. It set many category records, including an altitude record of 56,807 ft (17,315 m) on 18 March 1966. While the majority of operators were military, some civil organisations also flew the type; Italy's national flag carrier Alitalia conducted pilot training using a handful of MB-326s. In excess of 800 MB-326s were built between 1961 and 1975. Brazil was the biggest export customer for the MB-326, which included its produced under licence by Embraer. Licensed production of the type was also performed by Atlas Aircraft Corporation of South Africa.

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See also

• ▸Futazuka Kofun (Katsuragi)
• ▸Firelight (band)
• ▸Dilophosaurus

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Text from Wikipedia; plate via Wikimedia Commons. Text CC BY-SA 4.0; plate freely licensed (see Commons). Source record. Images and catalogue data are reproduced from open-access collections.