Aermacchi MB-326 Impala

Aircraft Information
Aircraft Make: Aermacchi
Aircraft Model: MB-326
Aircraft Nickname: Impala
Aircraft Mil Civ Description: Tactical Jet
Category: Airplane
Class: Single Engine Land
Engine Description: Single Engine Turbojet

Aircraft Experience
As of: 10/30/2024
Number of Hours Flown: 1.3
Number of Times Flown: 1
Other Aircraft Models Associated: none

First Flown Information
Sequence First Flown: 119
Date First Flown: 3/27/2002
Location First Flown: Mojave, CA Airport (KMHV)
Who and/or What Organization First Flown With: National Test Pilot School (NTPS), Ed Solski

MB-326 Impala at NTPS (stock photo) (c) Airliners.net

Recollections:
I flew this aircraft, on a familiarization flight at the National Test Pilot School, while I was attending a 6 week “initial” course for my job as an FAA Test Pilot.  It was a flight of two, with Greg Lewis and John Hagen in the other airplane and, after conducting some formation flight, we split to conduct spins, including inverted spins.  The airplane struck me as being a wonderful machine, somewhat akin to the T-2 in terms of it’s utility and ease of operation.