Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/739629
The first 40-minute flight took place on 4th July 2016. The pilots were Quirino Bucci - the head of Leonardo testing pilots team, and engineer Giovanni Paganini, who supervised the operations of on-board equipment. According to the official press release, everything was successful and the Monday test flight is the beginning of the flying tests program that are to end with certification of the variant ordered by Poland. The differences include, i.a. in- stallation of a drogue parachute. It is planned that there will be 2-3 experimental and test flights exe- cuted each weeks. What should be highlighted, the M-346 will be also the second aircraft, after C-295M light trans- port aircraft, used in Poland that has been facili- tated with NVD-compatible lighting. Due to the fact that the plane is officially still owned by the manufacturer, Polish Air Force markings will be covered during flights over Italy. The only identification element of the plane will be the „temporary" civilian registration and the coat- of-arms of the Polish Air Force Academy that will use the Italian planes in the training process of future com- bat pilots. According to the schedule, first planes (Serial No. 7701 and 7702) are to be delivered to the 41st Training Flight Airbase in Dęblin until November 2016. Currently, the program is executed in several directions: new M-346 Masters are assembled at Leonardo facility and mean- time training program conducted for pilots and technical personnel is on the way in Italy. On the same time, Polish Air Force Academy is preparing infrastructure – i.a. eight hangars for planes have been finished, while refueling hangar and the ground training facilities including the flying model simulator (FMS), pilot simulator, simu- lator of emergency procedures, and a computer aided training support system are still under construction. Leonardo will deliver the equipment for the ground operation of planes, ground equipment f o r M - 3 46, m a i n - t e n a n c e and repairs e q u i p m e n t , spare parts, the automatic opera- tion support system, and consumables. The whole contract, not in- cluding potential options, is to be performed until the end of November 2017. Currently, Poland is waiting for the delivery of eight M-346s. However, at the beginning of July, (unofficial) information appeared that a contractual option was sub- mitted for the demand of four additional planes. That step may mean that we soon may witness an annex, as well as it may limit the chances for modernization of www.fragoutmag.com