Air Education and Training Command officials expect most of the Air Force’s T-6A trainer aircraft will resume flying on Wednesday after a brief standdown of the fleet, command spokesman Capt. Jason Smith told Air Force Magazine on Tuesday. The precautionary grounding began on April 10 following indications of an engine oil line malfunction. This prompted an inspection of all 445 T-6s in the fleet to determine the follow-up actions required, said Smith. Officials expected maintainers to finalize the inspections on Tuesday, he said. All T-6As that passed inspection and didn’t require further action would immediately return to flying status, he said. “Safety of airmen is a top priority of the Air Force, and the standdown gave maintainers the opportunity to verify proper function of the oil line on every T-6A,” said Smith. AETC operates T-6s at Columbus AFB, Miss.; JBSA-Randolph, Texas; Laughlin AFB, Texas; Sheppard AFB, Texas; and Vance AFB, Okla. The Air Force uses T-6s for training students in basic flying skills common to all Air Force pilots.
There is a new entrant in the highly competitive field of collaborative combat aircraft—semi-autonomous drones meant to fly alongside manned combat aircraft. Northrop Grumman unveiled its new Project Talon aircraft to a small group of reporters at the facilities of its subsidiary Scaled Composites.
