TRAINING AIRCRAFT
PRIMARY FLIGHT TRAINING
The T-34 Mentor is the Navy and Marine Corps primary flight training aircraft.
The current version, the T-34C, has been in service since 1978. This aircraft
provides basic pilot and NFO training for the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast
Guard and selected Air Force candidates. In 1994, joint primary flight
training became a reality with the
exchange of Air Force and Navy/Marine Corps instructors in two primary
squadrons, VT-3 at Naval Air Station (NAS) Whiting Field, FL and the 35th
Flight Training Squadron (FTS) at Reese Air Force Base in Lubbock, TX.
To further enhance multi-service flight training, Naval Aviation and
the Air Force have jointly developed the next generation primary flight
trainer - the T6A Texan II Joint Primary Aircraft Training System (JPATS).
JPATS includes state-of-the-art aircraft, full-motion simulators and computer-based
systems training. The comprehensive syllabus has been designed to teach
flight training basics to students from every service and will feed the
pipelines to multi-engine, jet, and rotary-wing aircraft. The JPATS curriculum
is scheduled to be introduced to the Training Command in 2001 and will
satisfy all primary flight training needs well into the 21st century.
INTERMEDIATE AND ADVANCED FLIGHT TRAINING
The T-2C Buckeye is the Navy's intermediate jet trainer used at NAS Meridian,
MS, and is also used to train Naval Flight Officers at NAS Pensacola, FL.
Advanced jet training is accomplished in the T/A-4J Skyhawk and the T-45A
Goshawk. The TA-4J is in service at NAS Meridian, while T-45s fly from
NAS Kingsville,
TX. In 1998, the T-45 will replace the TA-4J at NAS Meridian as well, and
will be used for all advanced jet training. In 2003, the Goshawk will also
replace the T-2C and will train all naval jet student pilots in a combined
intermediate/advanced jet syllabus.
The Goshawk Training System combines academic, simulation, and flight
phases into an integrated computer-based approach that greatly improves
training efficiency and safety. The T-45A is an analog aircraft, while
its follow-on Cockpit 21 is a digital aircraft that utilizes F/A-18-like
HOTAS (Hands On Throttles And Stick) and Head-Up Display technology, including
the military standard 1553 digital data bus.
Maritime intermediate/advanced propeller training is provided by the
T 44A Pegasus aircraft at NAS Corpus Christi, TX and helicopter intermediate/advanced
training is provided by the TH-57 Sea Ranger at NAS Whiting Field.
ADVERSARY AIRCRAFT
Naval Air Reserve and Marine adversary squadrons provide adversary training
support to active duty squadrons. The Reserve squadrons dedicated to this
mission employ the F-5E/F Tiger II and F/A-18A Hornets. Reserve F-14 and
F/A-18 squadrons assigned to CVWR-20 play an adversary support role in
addition to their regular mobilization training.