TEXAN WEST DEMO TEAM TO PERFORM AT THUNDER
2006-04-10T11:23:13
The skies over Louisville will come alive when the "Texan West" team performs April 22 at the 2006 Thunder Air Show. Those in attendance will be greeted with the sounds of freedom as the USAF Air Education and Training Command's T-6A Texan II West Coast Demonstration Team perform their aerial maneuvers.
- With show pilot and team chief Capt. Jeff Stift at the controls, the team's performance features a single T-6A Texan II executing a series of fast-paced and challenging maneuvers that reflect the capability of the Air Force and Navy's newest trainer and the skills of all military pilots. Following the single-ship demonstration, Captain Stift will then join on the wing of a vintage T-6 and present those in attendance with the AETC "Texan Flight" representing more than 60 years or aerial heritage.
- In primary flight training, the Air Force uses the T-6A's advanced avionics to teach students the systems management skills they'll need on aircraft like the F-22 Raptor, B-2 Spirit and C-17 Globemaster to project America's airpower around the world. The 13-member show team is based at Randolph AFB in San Antonio. Typically, five to six members of the team travel to each air show.
"The primary mission of the team is to support Air Force recruiting and retention programs and to reinforce public confidence in the Air Force through appearances at aerial events such as military and civilian air shows," said Maj. Brian May, narrator. "Plus, we really enjoy meeting with all the people everywhere we perform."
- The T-6A is a single-engine, two-seat primary trainer designed to train joint specialized undergraduate pilot training students in basic flying skills common to all military pilots. It is taking the place of the Air Force's aging fleet of T-37Bs, and the Navy will replace the T-34 with T-6As.
- "It is the most advanced primary trainer ever flown by the Air Force," Capt. Stift said. "The aircraft is fully aerobatic and features a pressurized cockpit with an anti-G system, advanced avionics package with sunlight-readable liquid crystal displays, and it's a dream to fly!"
The T-6A has more power than the T-37 and twice the range while using half the fuel. Its state-of-the-art cockpit dramatically upgrades the quality of primary flight training and is a perfect lead-in to the advanced phases of pilot training in the T-1A Jayhawk and T-38C Talon.
Manufactured by Raytheon Aircraft, the T-6A is a military trainer version of Raytheon's Beech/Pilatus PC-9 Mk II. It has a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-68 turbo-prop engine that delivers 1,100 horsepower.
- The T-6A is currently flown by instructor pilots at Randolph and Laughlin AFBs, Texas, Vance AFB, Okla., and Moody AFB, Ga. Over the next three years the T-6A Texan II will replace the T-37 at Columbus AFB, Miss., and Sheppard AFB, Texas.
- This is the fourth show for the "Texan West" demo team launching a 20-plus show season all across America in 2006.
