Raytheon Aircraft Company's upgraded primary training aircraft, the Beechcraft T-6B, ends Phase 1 of its world tour this week with a high flying demonstration from US aerobatic champion Patty Wagstaff.
During the tour customers got to grips with the aircraft's handling capabilities and learned about the integrated training package on offer. The T-6B comes with a ground-based training system including academics and advanced courseware; high-fidelity flight and procedural training devices and simulators and a training integration management system. This means it is capable of providing the lion's share of the average 300hr it takes to train a student to wing standard, offering 180hr of useful training time.
Pat Farley, director of business development, government business, says that customer input has been a vital part of the aircraft's evolution. Raytheon has responded to a market desire to download training from advanced platforms to aircraft that cost less per flight hour, reducing costs from around $800-900 per hour in a Hawk to $300-400 dollars in a T-6B.
Farley believes the head up display is the greatest innovation in flying training in recent years: "Teach a student how to use the head up display in a primary trainer and you get that student ready for a jet fighter much more quickly," he says. The upgraded T-6 features an avionics suite consisting of a SparrowHawk head-up display (HUD) and FV-4000 mission and multifunction displays.
With 95% commonality with the T-6A Texan II flown by the Greek Hellenic air force, the US Air Force and the US Navy, the T-6B can also be outfitted with guns, rockets and bombs.
During the tour customers got to grips with the aircraft's handling capabilities and learned about the integrated training package on offer. The T-6B comes with a ground-based training system including academics and advanced courseware; high-fidelity flight and procedural training devices and simulators and a training integration management system. This means it is capable of providing the lion's share of the average 300hr it takes to train a student to wing standard, offering 180hr of useful training time.Pat Farley, director of business development, government business, says that customer input has been a vital part of the aircraft's evolution. Raytheon has responded to a market desire to download training from advanced platforms to aircraft that cost less per flight hour, reducing costs from around $800-900 per hour in a Hawk to $300-400 dollars in a T-6B.
Farley believes the head up display is the greatest innovation in flying training in recent years: "Teach a student how to use the head up display in a primary trainer and you get that student ready for a jet fighter much more quickly," he says. The upgraded T-6 features an avionics suite consisting of a SparrowHawk head-up display (HUD) and FV-4000 mission and multifunction displays.
With 95% commonality with the T-6A Texan II flown by the Greek Hellenic air force, the US Air Force and the US Navy, the T-6B can also be outfitted with guns, rockets and bombs.
Source: Flight Daily News
