T-44C Pegasus
The Beech Aircraft King Air 100
turboprop executive aircraft
entered service with the US Navy
in 1977 as a replacement for the
Grumman TS/US-2A Tracker.
Assigned the designation T-44A,
the aircraft was tasked with
intermediate and advanced
maritime multi-engine ight
training for multi-engine and
tilt-rotor pilots.
The navy originally received
61 T-44As that were purchased
as commercial-derivative
aircraft, and 54 remained on the
inventory in December 2017. The
aircraft have all been upgraded
to T-44C con guration, which
features a new commercial-o -
the-shelf (COTS) avionics suite.
The rst upgraded T-44C
was delivered to TAW-4 at NASCorpus Christi in December
2005 and the nal conversion
was completed in 2015.
Powered by two Pratt &
Whitney PT6A-34B turboprop
engines, the T-44B features
new ight instruments, radios,
TACAN, weather radar and an
integrated hazard avoidance
system. The system features
LCD ight displays, new ight
management systems, GPS
sensors, dual attitude heading
reference systems (AHRS), air
data system and dual-channel
automatic ight control system
(AFCS). The Pegasus is due to
remain in the inventory until
2025 or beyond. The navy plans
to begin acquisition of a T-44C
replacement aircraft in FY 2023.Squadron Location Aircraft Command Tail code
VT-31 ‘Wise Owls’ NAS Corpus Christi, Texas T-44C TAW- 4 GVT-35 ‘Stingrays’ NAS Corpus Christi, Texas T-44C TAW- 4 GA T-44C Pegasus of VT-31 at NAS Corpus
Christi. US Navy/Richard StewartT-34C Turbo Mentor
Developed from the earlier
Beechcraft T-34A/B (Model 45),
the T-34C rst ew in September
1973 and entered service in- Although the last Turbo
Mentors were phased out of the
training role in 2015, 13 aircraft are
currently operated by two strike
ghter weapons schools and VFA-
122 as range spotting/clearance
aircraft. The aircraft are scheduled
to remain in service through 2026.
Squadron Location Aircraft Command Tail code
SFWSP NAS Lemoore, California T-34C CSFWP NJ
SFWSP Det NAS Fallon, Nevada T-34C CSFWP NJ
VFA-122 (FRS)
‘Flying Eagles’NAS Lemoore,
California T-34C CSFWP NJ
SFWSL NAS Oceana, Virginia T-34C CSFWL ADT-6A/B Texan II
Developed from the Pilatus
PC-9 trainer to meet a joint-
service requirement, the
Beechcraft T-6A was named as
the winner of the Joint Primary
Aircraft Training System (JPATS)
competition in June 1995.
Intended as a replacement for
the USAF’s T-37B and the US
Navy’s T-34C primary training
aircraft, the T-6A entered the
USAF inventory in 1999 and
achieved initial operational
capability (IOC) in July 2002.
The US Navy accepted its rst
two T-6As in August 2002 and
deliveries to NAS Pensacola
began in November. The
T-6As were assigned to train
student naval ight o cers
(NFOs) and operations with
TAW-6 began in April 2003.
The T-6A achieved IOC with
VT-10 that June and supports
undergraduate military
ight o cer (UMFO) training
with TAW-6.
Di ering from the T-6A, the
T-6B features an advanced
cockpit equipped with the
integrated avionics system(IAS). Both models are
powered by a single Pratt &
Whitney Canada PT6A-68
turboprop engine. The initial
pair of T-6Bs was delivered
to TAW-5 at NAS Whiting
Field, Florida, in August 2009,
and the wing completed
its transition to the Texan
II in 2012.
TAW-4 at NAS Corpus Christi,
Texas, began its transition from
the T-34C when the rst T-6Bs
were delivered in July 2012.
The wing retired its last T-34Cs
in May 2015.
Texan II production for the
US Navy concluded with the
delivery of the nal T-6B to
Corpus Christi in June 2016.
The aircraft was the last of 47
T-6As and 254 T-6Bs built for
the navy.
As of December 2017, the
inventory included 43 T-6As
and 251 T-6Bs. A single T-6A
is assigned to VX-20 at NAS
Patuxent River and six T-6Bs
are on the strength of the US
Naval Test Pilot School, also at
the Maryland base.Squadron Location Aircraft Command Tail code
VT-2 ‘Doer Birds’ NAS Whiting Field, Florida T-6B TAW- 5 E
VT-3 ‘Red Knights’ NAS Whiting Field, Florida T-6B TAW- 5 E
VT-6 ‘Shooters’ NAS Whiting Field, Florida T-6B TAW- 5 E
VT-10 ‘Wildcats’ NAS Pensacola, Florida T-6A TAW- 6 F
VT-27 ‘Boomers’ NAS Corpus Christi, Texas T-6B TAW- 4 G
VT-28 ‘Rangers’ NAS Corpus Christi, Texas T-6B TAW- 4 G
VX-20 ‘Force’ NAS Patuxent River, Maryland T-6A NAWCAD
USNTPS NAS Patuxent River, Maryland T-6B NAWCADA T-6B of VT-28 ‘Rangers’ at NAS Corpus
Christi. US Navy/Anne BooherUS NAVY & MARINE CORPS AIR POWER YEARBOOK 2018
(^82) AIR POWER REVIEW
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