T-46A Documents from the History of the AFFTC
Abstract
Since the 1950s, the USAF had relied upon the Cessna T-37 as its primary jet trainer. By the mid-1980s the Air Training Command operated 652 T-37s at seven different bases. As the T-37 approached the age of 30, some Air Force and congressional figures called for its replacement. Those proponents of a "Next Generation Trainer" (NGT) increasingly enumerated criticisms of the venerable T-37. AFSC asked both the AFFTC and the Air Force Test and Evaluation Center (then known as AFTEC, later AFOTEC) for testing requirements for the NGT even before either the program schedule or budget for the airplane were laid out. AFFTC and AFTEC proposed similar test program requirements, each organization suggesting that 6 aircraft would be a good number for the testing program, and also that Air Force maintenance begin as early as possible. Three companies fought to the finish: the Fairchild Republic Company (teamed with the Garrett Turbine Engine Company), Rockwell International, and Cessna Aircraft. Fairchild Republic's NGT aircraft and program were both renamed T-46A in November 1982. The first flight of the T-46A was scheduled for 15 April 1985. The relationship between the two prime contractors for the T-46A, Fairchild Republic and Garrett Turbine Engines, deteriorated in 1984 and 1985. All of the problems slowed the design, development, production and testing of the two test prototypes and the single production model of the T-46A. The delivery and first flight of the original test aircraft came several months behind schedule. The same sort of delays occurred with the second test craft and the first production T-46A. Fairchild Republic fought to convince Congress to back the T-46A program. The entire NGT issue seemed to stall in late1986. According to the contract between the Air Force and FRC, the first production T-46A was 30 November 1986. The first flight was 16 January 1987. The T-46A program was the subject of a number of misperceptions.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 13, 2022
- Accession Number
- AD1183182
Entities
People
- Jeannine Geiger