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The Aermacchi M-346 advanced trainer breaks the sound barrier.

Written by thomas · Filed Under Aeronautics News 

December 21, 2008

thomas

After 50 years an all-Italian aircraft flies at Mach 1
The Alenia Aermacchi M-346 advanced trainer made its first supersonic flight, reaching yesterday Mach 1.15 in the “supersonic corridor” off the Italian Riviera coast.
The first prototype M-346 reached this important milestone during a 75 minute flight which began and ended on the company airfield at Venegono Superiore.
«Breaking the sound barrier shows the great growth potential of our M-346 – commented after the flight Quirino Bucci, Alenia Aermacchi Chief Test Pilot. – The flight went as planned. The aircraft showed excellent controllability as it exceeded the speed of sound and maintained its pleasant handling throughout the deceleration phase. All aircraft systems performed regularly throughout the acceleration and deceleration phases».
This significant achievement is further testimony to the high capabilities and performances of the Aermacchi M-346 platform, which integrates the power of its two Honeywell F124 engines with extremely effective aerodynamics and the new release of the digital Fly by Wire flight control software. This allowed the aircraft to reach and cross the sound barrier, achieving a top speed of 1,255 kmph and improving upon its own previous top speed of Mach 0.96, achieved in 2007. Test activities will continue until the top design speed of Mach 1.2 is reached.
This is the first time in 52 years than an aircraft designed and built entirely in Italy breaks the sound barrier. The first Italian aircraft to fly faster than sound was the Aerfer Sagittario II piloted by Lt Col Giovanni Franchini of the Italian Air Force’s Experimental Test Unit, which on 4 December 1956 achieved Mach 1.1 at the end of a long dive at Pratica di Mare.
Since then, all supersonic aircraft built in Italy have been either foreign designs under licence – such as the famed F-104 Starfighter – or international collaborative products – like the Tornado multirole aircraft or the Eurofighter Typhoon.

Background: the Aermacchi M-346
The M-346 is the only new generation advanced/lead-in fighter trainer currently under development in Europe. The aircraft is tailored to train pilots to fly future combat aircraft and will be used in every phase of advanced and pre-operational training, reducing the hours flown on more expensive aircraft. In order to optimise training effectiveness and operating costs, the M-346 embodies the latest concepts of “design-to-cost”, supportability and production optimisation, with a human-machine interface representative of new generation combat aircraft such as Eurofighter, Rafale, F-16 and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
The M-346 is engineered with innovative design solutions. Its full authority quadruplex Fly-by-Wire control system and optimised aerodynamic configuration allow it to remain fully controllable at angles of attack beyond 35 degrees. With this technological capability, Alenia Aermacchi confirms its ability as an independent designer and manufacturer of advanced aircraft with Fly by Wire controls. This, combined with the twin-engine configuration and thrust/weight ration close to 1, translates into safety levels unattainable by its competitors. The M-346 also integrates digital avionics with the ability to simulate sensors and threats in flight. These characteristics and its performance make the M-346 the world’s leading tactical pre-operational training aircraft.

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