Early Flights Achievement with the Aermacchi M-346 Advanced Trainer

Paolo Chimetto, Aermacchi M-346 Flight Test, Venegono Superiore (Varese), Italy
Rodolfo Carabelli, Aermacchi M-346 Flight Test, Venegono Superiore (Varese), Italy

Abstract

The M-346 advanced trainer, designed and built by Aermacchi, has made its first flight on mid July 2004 and completed a first set of 54 flights in March 2005. The aircraft, on the leading edge of its class of flying vehicles in terms of performance, technology applied and mission capability, has confirmed the soundness of its design. As expected, the initial envelope explored has been found trouble-free, confirming the satisfactory level of reliability of the modelling used for predictions. Next stage of development tests will take the aircraft off the feathers bed of the initial envelope to identify the margins existing against the flutter domain while developing the Flight Control System control laws to be implemented aiming at the carefree handling as final target to achieve.