USAFA gets new training planes for cadet flight program

Luigi59 · Jun 18, 2011

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

bruno · Jun 18, 2011

Given that more and more AF Officers will be spending their careers piloting RPVs- and fewer and fewer actually flying manned aircraft-maybe a more appropriate investment for USAFA to give them a head start would have been a fleet of these?

I sure hope that they have that lever to deploy the parachute well marked- would certainly change the flying characteristics a lot to adjust the trim tabs and pop the chute instead.

raimius · Jun 18, 2011

I'm surprised they didn't stick with the DA-40s, but the Cirrus looks pretty similar.

That's quite the RC B-52!

flieger83 · Jun 19, 2011

That WAS Gordon Nichols' B-52...

I say was because a few years ago he was "prodded" into flying it on a not-so-nice day and the video was VERY reminiscent of Fairchild AFB: it went into a low altitude spiral dive and was destroyed in the ensuing crash and fire.

He rebuilt it...and the new bird crashed on its first certification flight when the radio servos failed.

He has since said he won't rebuild it. It's also been "whispered" that the UK certifying authority for large models privately told him they would NOT certify a third jet. The "word on the circuit" was the jet costs him about 16,000 Pounds Sterling to build. That's about $30K when he was doing it.

FYI...Gordon is a bank ATM engineer in the UK (he's not some reclusive millionaire, just a really skilled hobbyist) and is very well known throughout the "Large Model Association" for his models. Check them out on the LMA website.

If you want to see the crash (it's heartwrenching) it's available with a little searching online.

Steve
USAFA ALO
USAFA '83
"Large Model Admirer"

Bullet · Jun 19, 2011

bruno said:
Given that more and more AF Officers will be spending their careers piloting RPVs- and fewer and fewer actually flying manned aircraft...

Bruno, completely understand your post was made with humor as the primary intention, but I just want to clear up a common misconception for those young men and women considering flying careers in the AF.

The AF has NO plans to reduce the number of manned fighters it intends to keep around and operating through 2040 (and potentially into 2050). Same for its bomber fleet. And while its mobility fleet MAY become remotely piloted one day (big question about "Safety" on that topic), the force size is also programmed to stay the same.

Of course, who knows what will eventually occur 20-30 years from now with 100% accuracy? But I can say that while the conversation about increasing RPV size is occurring, the AF (and the Navy / Marines) fully intend to have similar levels of manned aircraft for long while. Increases in computer technology, combined with fiscal realities, may change that (but the "fiscal realities" part and the thought that RPVs are cheaper to operate is not a close to the truth as some most would believe).

In fact, the services will face a pilot pilot shortage in the very near future. Good news for the young people looking at these threads, as the services are planning to soon be cranking out new fighter pilots at rates not seen since the 80s.

Bottom Line: having a "introduction to powered flight" program at the AFA is a good thing and well worth the relatively inexpensive investment. We'll continue to need cadets knowledgeable and inspired to become aviators for a long time.

However, if they WANT to fly the planes you show, that opportunity should be around as well. Flying that mini-BUFF from your I-Pad seems like it would be pretty cool!

scoutpilot · Jun 19, 2011

What's the old saying? "We're going down like a Cirrus full of doctors!"

hornetguy · Jun 19, 2011

The Cirrus aircraft are pretty sweet. I see many of them at the airport here and would love to fly them, but they cost twice as much to rent as a Cessna or Piper. Sweet aircraft. Though I wonder what they are doing with the DA-40s? Those were also very nice aircraft and I remember they flew very well in CO.

Luigi59 · Jun 20, 2011

flieger83 said:
That WAS Gordon Nichols' B-52...

A military pilot called for a priority landing because his single-engine jet fighter was running “a bit peaked.”

Air Traffic Control told the fighter pilot that he was number two, behind a B-52 that had one engine shut down.

“Ah,” the fighter pilot remarked, “The dreaded seven-engine approach."

aviationhumor.net

flieger83 · Jun 20, 2011

Luigi59 said:
A military pilot called for a priority landing because his single-engine jet fighter was running “a bit peaked.”

Air Traffic Control told the fighter pilot that he was number two, behind a B-52 that had one engine shut down.

“Ah,” the fighter pilot remarked, “The dreaded seven-engine approach."

aviationhumor.net

And to now totally take this thread tangentially...

"...Just remember...when the last B-2 is flown to Davis Monthan AFB and the BONEYARD for disposal/storage...it will have to hold for landing because there'll be a B-52 shooting touch-and-go's in the pattern, and there will be a KC-135 ready to refuel that B-2 in case the BUFF decides to shoot multiple approaches!"

Steve
USAFA ALO
USAFA '83