Dr. Ermanno Bazzocchi was first of all a man with a vision, and his vision was the achievement of perfection in the training aircraft that his Compant, AerMacchi, would place in the hands of a young and inexperienced pilot. As a very young engineer, I had the luck of working alongside him for some years, and I recall that there was a sure way to please him: share his vision and act accordingly. Anything short would generate, as a minimum, a perplexed look into your eyes. In many ways Dr.Bazzocchi was an innovative designer looking for breaktroughs in aeronautical engineering that would satisfy his quest for excellence: his most famous design, The MB-326 or "macchino", was the first jet trainer designed from the start with a comfortable, pressurized and air conditioned cockpit, and fitted with Martin Baker ejection seats. It was so easy to fly and forgiving that the Italian Air Force was able to field it as an "ab-initio" trainer, giving away the initial phases on propeller aircraft. The safety rate of the MB-326, and of her successor the MB-339 (another outstanding design by Dr.Bazzocchi) is exceptionally good for a single engine aircraft. In the late '80s Dr. Bazzocchi (then over 70 years old), started a new program, called Advanced Trainer for the 2000s or AT-X for the inmates, that aimed at the replacement of the MB-339. The deep work performed under this program in high-alpha and transonic aerodynamics, innovative aiframe layouts, training-oriented avionics and Fly- by- wire flight controls eventually led to the design of the M-346.
I support the inclusion of Dr. Bazzocchi in the 100 Graeatest Aerospace persons
Pierclaudio Iaia