Aircraft brokerage company Boschung Global has listed an Aermacchi MB-326K for sale on its platform. The aircraft is a 1970s vintage, single-seat, ground-attack variant of the highly successful MB-326 trainer. This Aermacchi or Macchi MB-326K has been acquired as a brand-new aircraft. Aermacchi had almost finished producing it, but the company never completed the construction or flew it. Made as a ‘KZ’ model, Aermacchi started building this airframe (c/n 6754, serial FG754) for the Zairean military. The type was already in use in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and this aircraft was part of a contract for eleven more units.
However, Zaire faced financial problems that led to the cancellation of the contract before it was finished. At the time, Aermacchi had almost completed the aircraft, but they struggled to justify its final assembly without another buyer. Because of this, the aircraft sat in covered storage for several decades until Renzo Catellani’s Volafenice acquired it, making 6754 likely the lowest-time MB-326 in the world. The aircraft is now registered as I-MBCK and painted to resemble MM54391, which was part of the Italian Air Force and served with the 311° Gruppo/Reparto Sperimentale Volo (RSV), a flight-testing unit at Pratica di Mare Air Base near Rome.
The Aermacchi MB-326 was a light military jet trainer aircraft that first flew in December 1957. Production began in 1961, and it quickly became popular, with ten different air forces worldwide using it. Production continued until 1975, with more than 800 units made. Because of its success as a training aircraft, services showed interest in using it for combat roles. Several light attack versions were developed, including the MB-326K. In the mid-1960s, the MB-326 set several records, including for altitude, endurance, and speed. It was one of the last Italian aircraft to achieve world records. The Italian Air Force replaced the MB-326 with the MB-339 and retired the MB-326 in 2010.
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The Macchi MB-326K was a specific version of the MB-326 jet trainer designed for ground attacks. The South African Air Force asked for its design in 1966. The model underwent major upgrades in firepower and payload, replacing the 7.62 mm guns with 30 mm DEFA 553 autocannons. It also had options for extra gun pods and bombs. In total, at least 93 MB-326Ks were made, including 73 built under license for the South African Air Force. The South African Air Force primarily used the Macchi MB-326K, locally known as the Atlas Impala Mk II, during the South African Border War in the 1970s and 1980s for low-level strike missions and occasionally as an interceptor.
(Image credit: Vola Fenice/Boschung Global)
The aircraft for sale has a total flying time of 42 hours and has completed 58 cycles. It is powered by a Rolls-Royce Viper 632-43 engine with a total time of 148 hours. In terms of avionics and radios, the Macchi MB-326K is equipped with a TT22 transponder (Mode A/C/S), a VHF COM Trig TY91 radio, a Collins 20A VHF COM radio, and various navigation instruments, including VOR, LOC, GS, MRK, ADF, and a flight director system. Other vital instruments include an altimeter, cabin altimeter, vertical speed indicator, Mach anemometer, standby compass, G-meter, and clock.
This Macchi MB-326K aircraft also features an armed canopy, a disarmed ejection seat, and a pilot’s parachute installed. It comes with a first-aid kit and an external intercom output for communication between the pilot and ground crew. After years of dedicated work involving countless hours, the aircraft first flew in Reggio Emilia, near Bologna, Italy, on September 26, 2019. According to Boschung, the aircraft is in perfect condition. For more information about this aircraft, visit https://www.boschungglobal.com/.
(Image credit: Vola Fenice/Boschung Global)
