Photo: Boeing
The moment when America's future military aviators will get to train on a brand-new aircraft is fast approaching. This, after the maker of the new machine, Boeing, completed the next stage of the testing process.
The plane in question is called T-7A Red Hawk, in honor of the Tuskegee Airmen, the group of almost all-African American pilots who proved themselves during the aerial battles of the Second World War on board Curtiss P-40 Warhawk airplanes.
It has been in development over at Boeing for the past several years, but now, in 2023, it has really moved a lot of steps closer to operational status.
The last time we got an update on the Red Hawk was back in September when the U.S. Air Force (USAF), the organization that will use it, received its first aircraft of this kind. Previously, in June, the plane conducted its very first test flight at the hands of USAF pilots.
The first Red Hawk was delivered to the Air Force at one of its bases in Saint Louis. There was talk then of one of the planes being delivered to the Edwards Air Force Base in California where the next phase of testing was supposed to begin.
That happened last week when, according to Boeing, one Red Hawk, designated APT-2, traveled for a distance of 1,400 miles (2,253 km) from an undisclosed location to Edwards.
The plane that was moved to California is described as the “first production representative jet off the assembly line.” It was flown by a mixed USAF-Boeing crew – this being a trainer and all, it comes with a two-seat configuration.
The flight was not non-stop, as the Red Hawk landed three times, at air bases in Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arizona. The stops were needed for both refueling and show-and-tell displays for the USAF people.
Now that it reached Edwards the Red Hawk will begin a series of procedures that include flutter tests. That's a way of putting aircraft through their paces meant to see how the structure handles aerodynamic loads and how much vibration on the wing occurs when air is flowing around it. Elsewhere, two other test aircraft will undergo different procedures.
The plane has been designed to run on a General Electric turbofan engine rated at 17,000 lbf of thrust when the afterburner is engaged. It will be capable of reaching speeds of over 800 mph (1,300 kph) and a top altitude of 50,000 feet (15,000 meters).
The Red Hawk is meant to replace the T-38 Talon in the USAF arsenal. That’s a trainer aircraft that’s been around since the 1950s and still forms the basis of the Air Force’s training procedures.
Boeing received back in 2018 a $9.2 billion contract to make no less than 351 T-7As, but also simulators and support hardware.
It has been in development over at Boeing for the past several years, but now, in 2023, it has really moved a lot of steps closer to operational status.
The last time we got an update on the Red Hawk was back in September when the U.S. Air Force (USAF), the organization that will use it, received its first aircraft of this kind. Previously, in June, the plane conducted its very first test flight at the hands of USAF pilots.
The first Red Hawk was delivered to the Air Force at one of its bases in Saint Louis. There was talk then of one of the planes being delivered to the Edwards Air Force Base in California where the next phase of testing was supposed to begin.
That happened last week when, according to Boeing, one Red Hawk, designated APT-2, traveled for a distance of 1,400 miles (2,253 km) from an undisclosed location to Edwards.
The plane that was moved to California is described as the “first production representative jet off the assembly line.” It was flown by a mixed USAF-Boeing crew – this being a trainer and all, it comes with a two-seat configuration.
The flight was not non-stop, as the Red Hawk landed three times, at air bases in Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arizona. The stops were needed for both refueling and show-and-tell displays for the USAF people.
Now that it reached Edwards the Red Hawk will begin a series of procedures that include flutter tests. That's a way of putting aircraft through their paces meant to see how the structure handles aerodynamic loads and how much vibration on the wing occurs when air is flowing around it. Elsewhere, two other test aircraft will undergo different procedures.
The plane has been designed to run on a General Electric turbofan engine rated at 17,000 lbf of thrust when the afterburner is engaged. It will be capable of reaching speeds of over 800 mph (1,300 kph) and a top altitude of 50,000 feet (15,000 meters).
The Red Hawk is meant to replace the T-38 Talon in the USAF arsenal. That’s a trainer aircraft that’s been around since the 1950s and still forms the basis of the Air Force’s training procedures.
Boeing received back in 2018 a $9.2 billion contract to make no less than 351 T-7As, but also simulators and support hardware.
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