(Image Credit: Alenia Aeronautica)
With its founding on May 1, 1913, Alenia Aermacchi will celebrate its 100th Year of operation with a display of a veritable squadron of its leading products, both past and present, at the 2013 Paris Air Show at Le Bourget, France. The show which runs June 17-23 will see Alenia displaying their current product lineup of trainer and warbird aircraft such as the Eurofighter Typhoon, M-346 Master, SF-260 and the MC-27J Spartan in addition to some of their notable past models.
(Image Credit: Alenia Aermacchi)
The company has come a long way from its birth when 10 workers built the first Nieuport-Macchi monoplane in 1913 to the company of today which employs over 12,000 and produces some of the most advanced aerospace products in the world.
Among the vintage aircraft on display will be an original Aeronautica Macchi MB.308, the first aircraft designed and produced by Macchi after the end of World War Two. Designed by Ermanno Bazzocchi, the MB.308, which performed its first flight in 1947 was the first in the line of many trainer aircraft produced by the company since, from the MB.326 and the MB.339 to the current M-346 and SF-260.
(Photo Credit: Geoffrey Jones)
There are believed to be ten MB.308s still flying in the world today, the example on display at the Paris Air Show is the 71st aircraft to be built out of a total production run of 220, and is one of very few to be directly delivered to a non-military client. Andrea Rossetto, its current owner, president of the Historical Aircraft Group ( HAG),purchased it in Germany in 2005 and proceeded to restore the plane, investing approximately 2000 man-hours to bring the craft to original condition and winning the prestigious International Phoenix Diploma for the best amateur restoration of a vintage aircraft and the silver medal at the World Air Games in Turin, both in 2009. The aircraft is restored in its original livery of INCOM (Industria Cortometraggi Milano), the main Italian newsreel producer of the post-war period that employed the aircraft for aerial filming within Italy.
(Image Credit: GAVS-Torino)
Alenia Aermacchi will also showcase an original SVA 9, a two-seat trainer biplane. The SVA family of biplanes was designed in 1916 by Italian engineers Savoja, Verduzio and Rosatelli who originally intended for it to be a fighter aircraft. About 2000 were built and were widely used by the militaries of Argentina, Brazil, France, Latvia, The Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Russia, Spain and the United States for reconnaissance, attack and training missions.
The SVA 9 displayed at this year’s Le Bourget was built in 1918 and is part of Alenia Aermacchi’s historic aircraft collection. It was discovered in the United States in 1956 by Mr. H.S. Fyfield and restored by Reno Brenner of Aviation Techniques Inc. of Erwinna, Pennsylvania. The aircraft was purchased by Alena Aermacci in 1988, and returned to Italy in 1989, where it underwent further restoration at the Turin branch of the Gruppo Amici Velivoli Storici (GAVS), the Italian historic aircraft preservation society.
Born in Milan, Italy, Moreno moved to the U.S. in 1999 to pursue a career as a commercial pilot. His aviation passion began early, inspired by his uncle, an F-104 Starfighter Crew Chief, and his father, a military traffic controller. Childhood adventures included camping outside military bases and watching planes at Aeroporto Linate. In 1999, he relocated to Atlanta, Georgia, to obtain his commercial pilot license, a move that became permanent. With 24 years in the U.S., he now flies full-time for a Part 91 business aviation company in Atlanta. He is actively involved with the Commemorative Air Force, the D-Day Squadron, and other aviation organizations. He enjoys life with his supportive wife and three wonderful children.
A video about the AerMacchi MB 308 I-NCOM “Macchino” http://youtu.be/3vSrH6uW7XA
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