Quirino Bucci 1964-

Commander Quirino Bucci has been Alenia Aermacchi Chief Test Pilot since July 2008, with a total of 5,500 flying hours in 45 different aircraft types.
Bucci was born in Rome on 11 September 1964. Upon graduating from the “De Pinedo” Technical Aeronautical School, he entered the Italian Air Force Academy in 1983 with the Drago IV course. In 1988 he was awarded the “Teniente Carlos Meyer Baldo” medal of merit as the student
with the best flying skills in the course. The following year he earned his military wings with the Euro NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training (ENJJPT) programme at Sheppard AFB, in Texas.
After transitioning on fighters at Grosseto, Bucci flew the F-104S Starfighter with the 18th Squadron of the 37th Wing at Trapani and later attended the Air War School in Florence. Selected for the Experimental Flying Unit, he completed his test pilot training at Empire Test Pilot School at Boscombe Down. Serving with the 311th Squadron from 1995 to 2001 Bucci took part in several test programmes including the AMX, C-130J, Boeing 707T/T, BR1150 Atlantic
and ACMI without range.
From 2001 he flew the McDonnell Douglas MD80 with Alitalia. Since joining Alenia Aermacchi in 2005, Bucci has participated in the development of the M-346 and M-311, displaying both aircraft in some of the world’s leading air shows, including Farnborough, Paris, Singapore and Dubai. He has displayed the MB-339 at the LIMA Aerospace showand has twice flown the M-311 at the LAVEX show in Tripoli.