ABOVE:
Alitalia’s fi rst
Aermacchi MB326D,
the ill-fated I-ADIA,
over the Alps during
a pre-delivery test
fl ight.58 http://www.aeroplanemonthly.com AEROPLANE SEPTEMBER 2017ALITALIA MB326s
JET CADETS
When Italian national carrier Alitalia entered the jet age, it adopted
When Italian national carrier Alitalia entered the jet age, it adopteda new system of pilot training to match, with the delightful
a new system of pilot training to match, with the delightfulAermacchi MB326 in a central role
WORDS:^ LUIGINO CALIARO
W
hen Alitalia was created
in 1947, most of its
pilots were veterans of
bomber and transport
units in the Regia Aeronautica and
Aeronautica Militare. Many had also
fl own pre-war with Ala Littoria, the
Italian national airline established in
1934 by the fascist government.
In the years immediately following
hostilities, Alitalia was able to use the
training set-ups employed by BEA
and BOAC to instruct its new pilots.
It benefi ted from a collaborative
agreement with the British fl ag-
carriers, which held signifi cant shares
in Alitalia until 1957, when they were
transferred to IRI (Italy’s Institute
for Industrial Reconstruction). But in
the 1960s, with the advent of new jet
aircraft and an increase in traffi c that
brought Alitalia to eighth place in theranks of global airline companies in
terms of passengers carried, it became
necessary to review the entire training
syllabus, to the point at which the
company decided to create its own
fl ying school. Another aspect was the
need recognised by the Aeronautica
Militare to prolong the period of
service for its pilots, especially those
on short-service commissions, in
order to prevent the haemorrhage
of operational pilots tempted by
the civilian sector’s better fi nancial
rewards. In 1962 the national carrier
announced the establishment of its
own ab initio jet fl ying school at the
military airfi eld at Brindisi, with a
fl ying training syllabus that would be
all-jet from start to fi nish.
Alitalia opted to purchase four
Aermacchi MB326s, the two-seat jet
trainer that had just entered servicewith the Aeronautica Militare’s
fl ying school at Lecce. They were
confi gured as unique MB326D
versions, specifi cally equipped to
meet the company’s requirements
and very different from those of
the Aeronautica, being fi tted with
navigation and communications
systems tailored to civilian operations.
Among the items installed were a
Collins VHF omni-directional radio
range localiser, instrument landing
system and automatic direction-
fi nding, a Bendix radio magnetic
indicator, a Sperry pictorial deviation
indicator, and a dual Collins VHF
radio kit.
The Centro di Addestramento di
Brindisi offi cially became operational
on 15 February 1963, in which month
its fi rst training course commenced.
After a rigorous assessment process58-61_AM_Sept17_Alitalia_cc C.indd 58 31/07/2017 10:58