T-6B Texan II at Whiting next week?

[scoolbubba]

The airspeeds are quite similar to the T-6, it was a straightforward transition for me. The hard part was learning how to fly a jet... T-6 stopped in mid air and dropped out of the sky when you when idle boards.... T-45 just keeps going, and going, and going.

That's kind of what I figured. Speeds between the two don't seem too cosmic, but having a barn door out in front plus boards would seem like it would make it easier to correct a high/fast situation.

 

[Godspeed]

That's kind of what I figured. Speeds between the two don't seem too cosmic, but having a barn door out in front plus boards would seem like it would make it easier to correct a high/fast situation.

Absolutely... Particularly evident in formation... The T-6 I recall being able to just 'park' in a running rendezvous... You could come in there with 30 knots of overtake if need be, a second before reaching bearing line, idle+boards, you'd just stop right in position....

I was a little 'surprised' when I tried this technique on my first rendezvous in the 45. My IP waved to lead as we sailed by (idle with the boards hanging out).

 

[scoolbubba]

Stomp that rudder! That was my favorite trick if I had a lot of extra smash.

IP: "Hey, we gonna do something about this?"
Me: "Huh?!"
IP: MY PLA...
:::kick rudder real hard, idle, boards:::
IP: fuck you, smartass.

 

[JonDW7]

With the planes actually showing up next week, has anybody heard when primary studs will start flying them? Are any of the instructors trained on them yet?

 

[usmarinemike]

Is it just me or does that paint job look ugly? Not that orange and white can be sexy...

Still no beta?

That's an ugly paint job. It looks like a cooked egg.

 

[Kickflip89]

Still not a fan of the inability to safe the seat, although the seat pin seems to be working well in that regard. Also, did they add a TACAN or a TCAS in the B?

 

[KCOTT]

A rumor is going around that Waldron's runways will be too short for T-6 ops, so they're looking into re-opening NAS Chase Field up in Beeville, TX to use as an OLF. It's just a rumor, so don't quote me because I don't know shit.

Commodore mentioned something about that the other week in the safety stand down we had here

I also heard NAS Whiting will not be allowed to do split-field ops anymore because of the lack of beta

 

[Godspeed]

Still not a fan of the inability to safe the seat, although the seat pin seems to be working well in that regard. Also, did they add a TACAN or a TCAS in the B?

For those that don't know, the procedure has been (after you taxi clear of the active):

1) IP in the back selects SOLO on the ejection sequencer (preventing the IP from ejecting the stud or vice versa) and calls "Solo".

2) Each occupant pins their seat and calls "Pin's in".

I think this is the only 'safety' mechanism necessary so long as everyone follows the procedures.

Of course there was an AF IP that punched himself out on deck (safely) after he got the pin's flag caught around the handle and gave it a good pull.

 

[Gatordev]

I wonder how this will impact the tailhook pipeline. Most of the Phase I (intermediate) syllabus was just learning how to handle the speeds and handling characteristics of the T-45. I'm sure they could get rid of some of the instrument sims, and formation flights, however I sure wouldn't feel comfortable stepping into the Phase II syllabus without confidently knowing how to handle the jet. I felt I got everything out of the T-34 before stepping into a Jet. The T-6 will only be able to provide so much before needing to jump into the next platform. Sure, the Instrument phase would have been nicer in a slower aircraft with all those bells and whistles, but that faster speed is the main obstacle in the early instrument phases.

It used to be that guys who selected jets would move on to the T-2 and learn the jet flying and instrument flying techniques, then move on to the T-45/A-4, so it might not be that big a change from how it was done. When they were talking about changing it to the current system, they talked about flying the T-34 at 1015 for most of the approach to get the same basic idea (faster flying), but eventually decided to go w/ the way they have it now.

Penetration approaches are flown at 250 knots (usually at idle + boards for parts).

Your standard GCA box is flown at 200 in the early stages... 250 on downwind once comfortable/instructor discretion.... Slow to 200 once on base, gear, half flaps, slow to on speed (usually 120-140 depending on fuel state).

The "problem" I see w/ this plan is the transition period. There's going to be a lot T-34s around while the B comes online, so while the stud can potentially be pushed farther if you use the plane as a jet transition, you're going to have to find a good place to do it so you're not running into traffic ahead of you. And that's not even considering the problem of the box pattern at Whiting where the guy in front of you may be struggling to maintain 80 KGS.

I know it's on the "list," but they really need to get that PAR up at N. Field and a lot of problems could be eliminated.

 

[scoolbubba]

Still not a fan of the inability to safe the seat, although the seat pin seems to be working well in that regard. Also, did they add a TACAN or a TCAS in the B?

We had NACWS in the old A's, and TCAS in the newer ones. The TACAN, don't think so. Gonna have to do a lot of VOR/DME approaches away from home field if there's no VORTAC to get the same practice.

 

[scoolbubba]

Repost

 

[CommodoreMid]

How many of the T-6s at NPA are the newer ones with the TAS? I never flew in one, but pretty much all of my friends have had at least one hop in one.

 

[FastMover]

How many of the T-6s at NPA are the newer ones with the TAS? I never flew in one, but pretty much all of my friends have had at least one hop in one.

From what I heard there were at least a couple. I had a friend that flew a hop in one but that was it.

Does the T-6B have those stupid fuel gauges with the arrows that point to the amount of fuel in each tank? I hated those things.

 

[porw0004]

Does the T-6B have those stupid fuel gauges with the arrows that point to the amount of fuel in each tank?

As opposed to the ones that point to some arbitrary number?

 

[Kickflip89]

As opposed to the ones that point to some arbitrary number?

The point is if you're going to make a digital fuel gauge...why not just have a readout of the LBS on board as opposed to a fake steam gauge that is really hard to read?