Case Study : Best Primary Training Aircraft

Pilot training aircraft are used to take officers through flight training programs to provide rated military aviators to fly their respective services’ fixed-and rotary- wing aircraft. According to Federation of American Scientists’ (FAS) military analysis [14], the flight training process has been shaped and conducted through the years as summarized below:

”The Air Force has transitioned from undergraduate pilot training (UPT) to specialized undergraduate pilot training (SUPT) in order to better prepare pilots for the entire spectrum of aircraft and flying missions. Specialized undergraduate pilot training began at Reese Air Force Base, Texas, in July 1992, following the arrival of the T-1A aircraft. Undergraduate pilot training, which universally trained all students in the T-37 and T-38 trainer aircraft, continued at each base at the same time until all required T-1A aircraft arrived at that base. Transition to SUPT was completed in early 1997 when the last UPT class graduated at Columbus AFB, Miss.

Specialized undergraduate pilot training differs from generalized training pri- marily in the advanced phase. After primary training in the T-37 Tweet, or the U.S. Navy’s T-34 Mentor, students select, by order of merit, advanced training in the bomber-fighter, airlift-tanker, helicopter, or turboprop tracks.

The preflight phase of SUPT takes three weeks and consists of academics and physiology training to prepare students for flight. The second phase, primary training, is conducted in the twin-engine, subsonic T-37 Tweet, a rugged aircraft equal in maneuverability to most of the fighters of World War II. Students learn aircraft flight characteristics, emergency procedures, takeoff and landing procedures, aerobatics, and formation flying. Students also practice night, instrument, and cross-country navigation flying. Primary training takes approximately 23 weeks and includes about 250 hours of ground training, 25 hours in the flight simulator, and 90 flying hours in the T-37.

Advanced training for the bomber-fighter track is accomplished using the T-38 Talon and prepares pilots for transition to fighter and bomber aircraft. The T-38 is a tandem-seat, twin-engine, supersonic jet. There is increased emphasis on formation, navigation, and low level navigation flying. Training takes approximately 26 weeks and includes about 380 hours of ground training, 30 hours in the flight simulator and 120 flying hours in the T-38.

The airlift tanker track uses the T-1A Jayhawk, the military version of a multi- place business jet, facilitating the transition to crew positions in airlift and tanker

aircraft. Instruction centers on crew coordination and cockpit management duties in a multi-place crew aircraft. Flight training includes visual and instrument transition, radar cell formation, and simulated refueling and airdrop missions. Training takes approximately 26 weeks and includes about 185 hours of ground training, 45 hours in the flight simulator and 100 flying hours in the T-1A.

The helicopter track trains in the UH-1 Huey utility helicopter for follow-on assignments in special operations, rescue, missile site support, and distinguished per- sonnel support missions. The helicopter track transitions students from fixed wing to rotary-winged flight. The initial phase consists of basic helicopter flying including takeoff and landing, hovering, and emergency procedures. Advanced training consists of instruments, day tactics, and night tactics including night vision goggle training. Training takes approximately 24 weeks and includes 25 hours in a simulator and 110 hours of flying time.”

The decision of choosing a primary training aircraft to train new military pilots to the standard at which they can go to their next training phase (advanced training) and then to operational level units has always been a challenging and important process for the military forces throughout the world. The case study focuses on this problem. What are the characteristics of an ideal primary training aircraft? This question has been asked this way ”What is important to you in a primary training aircraft?”, to the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps pilots, who come from different backgrounds, different ranks, different experience levels, different ages and different perspectives.

Primary training includes general handling, stalling, spinning, solo flight, for- mation flying, aerobatics, and navigation at high and low levels, and various levels of instrument training. One desirable characteristic of a primary training aircraft for relatively inexperienced students is that it must be easy to fly safely, and to fly solo, in clear air and in clouds, in turbulent and smooth air, in good and bad weather, at low level and at high altitude. However, it should not be too easy to fly well enabling students to be easily assessed for ability and potential. The aircraft must react safely to typical student mistakes such as flying slightly out-of-trim or flying with less than perfect accuracy such as on the downwind leg of the traffic pattern, in the critical final turn before landing, in night flying or flying at low level. Also, when making predictably large errors, such as in aerobatics students can make incredibly creative mistakes. In such an aircraft, natural aerodynamic stability and ease of trimming are requirements rather than having a training aircraft that flies like a neutrally stable fighter and therefore difficult for student pilots to fly.

The priority in choosing the characteristics of any training aircraft is always how students will fly it, not how instructors and senior officers will enjoy it. The second part is important for instructor motivation, but teaching the student is the primary aim. Although this is perhaps obvious, it is often forgotten because the pilots who assess training aircraft before purchase (senior officers who like playing with the aircraft around the sky, which is a great relief compared to their desk work for sure) will naturally be very experienced. It is sometimes difficult for an experienced pilot to

put himself back instead of an inexperienced student unless he is a current instructor with a real feeling for the failings of the student pilots.

The study includes many terms relating to the aircraft systems. All those terms are explained in Appendix-B: Aircraft Systems Terminology.

The pilots (decision makers) participating in this case study have mentioned several criteria which forms their values, such as reliability, performance, maintain- ability, technology, safety, flying quality, training quality, design, supporting systems and cost, which a primary training aircraft should possess in order to guarantee im- provement in the skills of the trainees. These values also branch out to the sub-tier values. In order to familiarize individuals with the terms and expressions, these cri- teria were explained in detail in Appendix-C: The Decision Makers’ Criteria.