Tauranga based The Legacy Foundation has come to the party to aid in the acquirement of the new Aermacchi fighter jet to arrive at Classic Flyers in Tauranga this October.

The foundation has donated $10,000 for the base cost in acquiring the jet, and to honour the gift, the main hanger housing the aircraft will be renamed the Legacy Jet Centre.

Classic Flyers CEO Andrew Gormlie with the Aermacchi that will arrive in Tauranga in October.

An Aermacchi MB-339, gifted to the museum by the RNZAF, will arrive from Ohakea on Friday, October 24, ahead of its grand unveiling on October 28.

Classic Flyers NZ management board chairman David Love says the aircraft will still be flyable, but will require reassembly under strict Civil Aviation Authority standards.

'Classic Flyers and the Legacy Trust, in their very different ways, are dedicated to increasing the attractiveness of the Bay as a place to work and play,” says David.

'Since Greg Brownless gifted his funeral business to the people of Tauranga with the formation of The Legacy Foundation the amount of donations to organisations has been extraordinary and has enabled the provision of a vast array of amenities and facilities for the city and environs that otherwise would not have come to fruition.

"We feel honoured the foundation should feel we are worth the major grant that has been donated.”

David says a spares package will be acquired to enable future flight, but that getting the aircraft in the air remains a long term project.

'For now we are happy to get the aircraft to start up to taxi standard and produce a fitting display to complement the current build of the A4 Skyhawk diorama,” says David.

As a charitable trust, Classic Flyers will require additional funds to assist in the overall costs of acquiring, rebuilding and displaying the aircraft and the museum is appealing to the community and businesses to assist.

'People who donate to the project will have appropriate privileges in viewing the aircraft and as friends of Classic Flyers.”

David says the Aermacchi will make a fine addition alongside the Skyhawk and Hawker Hunter – which is the fastest aeroplane operating in New Zealand and the only one capable of breaking the sound barrier.

'With the Hunter, the Skyhawk and now the Aermacchi all in one hanger together with our other exhibits, we feel the title of The Legacy Jet Centre is truly appropriate and look forward to a continued relationship with The Legacy Trust and its parent organisation, the Acorn Foundation, which also does so much for the city.”

A total of 18 Aermacchi MB-339s were bought by the Government as advanced flying trainers in the early 1990s to replace the BAC Strikemaster fleet which had been purchased in the early '70s.

The aircrafts feature dual front and rear seat displays, multi-function displays, the NATO Standard 1553 data bus and an F-16- style hands on throttle and stick.

They are equipped with seven weapon station hardpoints to provide the capability to handle air-to-ground training munitions and integration with the latest targeting pods.

David says in 2001 the New Zealand Government removed the RNZAF air combat capability by cancelling the purchase of 28 F16 aircraft and disbanding the Number 2 and 75 squadrons. This meant the Number 14 Aermacchi squadron was shut down.

In 2008, the Defence Minister expressed the desire to return to service the 17 remaining Aermacchi trainers to supplement army and navy operations, but any decision was put on hold pending the planes' potential sale.

American company Draken International has since successfully bid for nine Aermacchi, with eight others allocated to New Zealand museums.