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Academy gets new training planes for cadet flight program
June 18, 2011 1:33 PM
TOM ROEDER
THE GAZETTE
The Air Force Academy is getting a new fleet of training planes this year that will take the crunch out of a crash.
The Cirrus Aircraft T-53A has something that no other Air Force plane carries: A built-in parachute that can allow the entire aircraft to float to earth in an emergency.
Air Force instructors say they’re not planning on trying out the new technology anytime soon, but it will provide an extra measure of safety for cadets as they take their first flights.
“Now you have the option of pulling the parachute if you need to,” said Lt. Col. Brad Oliver, with the academy’s 557th Flying Training Squadron.
The extra safety isn’t cheap. Each single-engine T-53A costs about $250,000 — nearly $10,000 for every foot of its length. The academy is buying 25 of the aircraft for $6.1 million to replace a leased trainer fleet of Diamond Aircraft DA-40s.
The new planes have a digital cockpit, with computer screens giving instrument readings. Oliver said the plane is slightly more powerful than the old trainers.
The two-seater has room for an instructor and a student, and can cruise at a top speed of 178 mph with a range of nearly 700 miles.
The academy has leased trainer planes since grounding the ill-fated T-3A Firefly in the late 1990s.
From 1995 to 1997, the Firefly crashed three times in Colorado Springs, killing three cadets and three instructor pilots.
The first of the new training planes will be accepted into the academy’s fleet in a Monday ceremony.
But it will be months before cadets climb in the cockpit. In the coming months, test pilots from Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., will come to the academy to discern the capabilities of the new trainer. Those test flights will determine the plane’s flight envelope — a parameter within which the plane can be safely flown.
Then, a training program for cadets using the new aircraft will be developed. Academy instructors say they’re already translating the plane’s civilian manuals into Air Force guides and checklists.
The academy expects to begin using the planes for training purposes in January, with the whole fleet ready for cadets next summer.
Oliver said the training squadron now gives more than 500 cadets per year their first nine flights.
With a larger fleet of training planes, the academy hopes to expand the training to include more than 700 cadets annually.
http://www.gazette.com/articles/force-120071-air-academy.html#ixzz1Pfw8PXVt