Posted on 12/05/2006 9:31:42 AM PST by SwinneySwitch
Local Navy student pilots will learn the craft's digital cockpit
Student pilots at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi will begin training for more advanced aircraft when the T-6 Texan II replaces the T-34 Turbomentor. The change will occur in 2012.
The single-engine, two-seat T-6 that will replace the single-engine, two-seat T-34 will have a digital cockpit instead of a dial-instrumentation cockpit.
The change allows the students to learn a digital cockpit from the beginning, instead of learning a dial cockpit and then a digital cockpit in advanced training, said Lt. Sean Robertson, a spokesman for the Chief of Naval Air Training.
The cockpit has several levels of complexity that can be changed to teach students different scenarios.
The aircraft was tested at Naval Air Station Kingsville last month by Navy and Marine Corps squadron leaders, who praised the T-6 as "just what the Navy needs."
The T-6 is the primary trainer for Marine Corps and Air Force pilots. The Navy's Training Wing 6 in Pensacola, Fla., uses 40 T-6 trainers.
"One of the pluses is that all our aviators will have similar backgrounds in aviation," Robertson said. "It opens up possibilities because it's the same basic equipment. It gives U.S. military aviation more flexibility."
Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio has been using the T-6 since 2001 and is still phasing out its T-37s, said David Smith, the Air Force's Air Education and Training Command chief of news division.
"What the T-6 has done is taken out the old technology of the mid-1950s and brought in modern, digital technology," Smith said. "The glass (digital) cockpit allows more efficient training. The aircraft's not faster, but it has more maneuverability. If pilots are doing touch-and-go landings on a strip and they have to do four of them in a row, the T-6 will do it quicker than the T-37."
With twice the output engine power than the T-34, the T-6 is capable of more than 7-Gs, which makes it more dynamic and able to do more aerobatics. It's also the first Navy primary trainer to feature ejection seats.
Along with newer technology comes a new cost. The T-34 used at the Corpus Christi base costs about $1 million. The T-6 is about a $4.3 million aircraft. Congress has funded the Navy's replacement processes, Robertson said. Raytheon builds both aircraft.
"This will bring upper-level flight training to the primary syllabus," Robertson said. "When given the opportunity to do joint training, you have to take it."
Contact Fanny S. Chirinos at 886-3759 or chirinosf'@caller.com
A T-6 Texan pilot observes his wingmen during a
training flight near Laughlin Air Force Base. The
single-engine, two-seat T-6, which will replace the
single-engine, two-seat T-34, will have a digital
cockpit instead of dial-instrumentation.
A four million dollar TRAINER?
Good lord, why not digitze the cockpit of a Cessna 172 for basic pilot training?
You're right--they're costly. But do you want to under-train pilots who will soon be flying $80M fighters? The venerable 172 is a good civil aircraft, but it doesn't beging to replicate the speed and maneuverability of front-line military aircraft.
TC
Correct me if I'm wrong - flight training consists of at least two parts - basic and advanced, right? Then, after that, the pilots have to qualify in their aircraft. If I understand correctly, the T-6 Texan II is for basic flight training - simply learning to fly. They still have to go to advanced training, where they learn more about high-performance fighters, and then they still have to check out in their combat aircraft.
It seems that $4.3 million is a bit pricey to train basic flight skills.
Didn't know you could recycle designations. I'm thinking what else I'd like to see back.
Two other items:
First, thank you for your service. You gave me a free country to grow up in.
Second: I was being a *bit* tongue in cheek about the 172. My main point remains, however, about $4.3 million seeming a bit pricey for a basic trainer.
First the Cessna 172 is a high-wing aircraft so landings & approaches are different. I wouldn't think that the Cessnas airframe is pre-stressed for aerobatics, either. I would think that if you used the 172 you'd have to add an intermediate step to flight training using still another trainer. THAT would be REALLY wasteful.
See my post #9. I was being a bit sarcastic about the Cessna 172. The point remains, however, that $4.3 million is awfully damn expensive for a basic flight trainer.
Some of the students trained in the T-6 will be selected for fighter and strike pipelines and their next aircraft will be either the T-38 or T-45.
These students need a high performance aircraft capable of aerobatic performance, training towards glass cockpits, and hands on stick and throttle flying.
OK. The point remains though that if you skimp on capabilities in the Basic Trainer, then it's a bigger jump to the Advanced Trainer.
Kinda interesting how the T6 was revamped after all these years. I imagine that a good chunk of the cost for those puppies is the electronics. So you're not getting away from that $4.3 mil per copy price regardless of the specific aircraft type that you choose.
Someone once refered to the electronics package of a combat aircraft as "prime cuts" -- presumably because that's where the bulk of the $$$'s go.
So it's a $3 million avionics package?
Does it at least come with a cd player?
It is not just a basic trainer. Students who are selected for multi engine and helicopters will take advanced training in the Texan as well.
The training is also much more that just takeoff and landing. They go through familiarization, instrument training, form training and acrobatics. These aircraft also have to be able to withstand about 1000 flight hours a year.
I think the price tag is just about right for the mission to which it is assigned.
The've recycled names, of course. The one that comes to mind is the Corsair. I'd like to see them bring back the P-51 Mustang.
Remember that at T-34 is basically a tandem seat Beech Bonanza.
Actually it does. I've flown them all and know that the newly minted pilot who now advances through the stages of the new joint service training program into the separate aircraft and service specific tracks is far, far superior to those of us who've made that journey in the past. Where once military flying was a combination of navigating, communicating and aviating as a member of a larger group, the new aerial warrior is much more likely to be a one-airplane delivery system and strike force. In addition to the traditional roles, the speed at which things occur, the over-the-horizon systems management and electronic wizzardry demand much more than stick and rudder know-how.
And, it cannot be ignored that there will be far fewer winged guys and gals in flight suits than has been the case throughout the history of military operations. The new T-6 is the right basic machine to create the manned aircraft driver of the 21st Century.
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