AIR International – June 2018

LOCKHEED MARTIN T-50A MILITARY

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those used in the F-16 and those in the F-35.
Consequently, the screen provides a fl exible
layout that can be confi gured to look like an
F-16 or an F-22 or an F-35 cockpit display.”
AIR International asked Mark Ward
whether the T-50’s cockpit was too
complicated for student pilots. He replied:
“Well, you would think so, but based on my
experience as an instructor on T-38s, an old
design with lots of cockpit switches, all of
which have to be instructed upon telling the
student the positions of each switch, those
are very complicated tuitions. As well as the
complicated tuition, as the instructor in the
aft seat, I can’t really see what the student
is doing with the switches. By contrast, in
the T-50 everything is on the displays, so as
the instructor I can see every single thing
the student does on his display. So is that
really more complicated? Not really. From
an instructor’s viewpoint we have simplifi ed
the cockpit and given the instructor the
ability to view the front cockpit, see what
is happening and catch any mistake before
one happens.”
The two cockpits are linked and allow the
instructor to use menus to set-up a training
scenario without interfering with the student
or without the student knowing what is being
done. Ward explained: “If during advanced
training the instructor wants to set up a
scenario in which he or she does not want
the student to know where the threat aircraft
are coming from, the cockpits can be easily
decoupled. The instructor can work on the
aft display and the important information
shows up on the front cockpit, but the actual
presentation, the pages and the menus being
used do not show. Then when the instructor
is done with that event the cockpits can
be relink so the student’s actions can once
again be observed. This capability also allows
the instructor to present the student with
unexpected problems.”

Ward said that in the early phases of fl ight

training before the student really understands

the whole concept of fl ying, coupled cockpits

enable the instructor to watch and monitor

the student and coach them through the

event. Once a student is more experienced

such that the instructor is less concerned

about the individual’s ability to fl y and control

the aircraft, more challenges will be presented

to the student without any advanced warning.

By decoupling the two cockpits, the instructor

can make the set-up in the aft cockpit, and

the student will see the presentation in the

front, but will not see the set-up in advance.

Modern performance

AIR International asked Mark Ward what the

T-50 gives the student and the instructor that

they do not have with the T-38.

Ward noted the really neat thing about

the T-50 is that it has been designed to fl y

extremely smoothly and has more than

adequate power, but at the same time it is

very easy to fl y. He said: “What do I mean by

that? When a student pilot has no experience

of fl ying jets, they are just learning the

entire time. They climb in the front seat, the

instructor is in the back seat: it’s a whole

new experience. A student will never use the

T-38’s afterburner throughout their entire pilot

training course. Why? Because afterburner

is not required, and when you only fl y the

aircraft between idle and mil power, it’s

wonderful; it has enough power that you do

not get in dangerous situations. However,

student fl ying often involves fl ying close to

the ground, and if the student makes an error

with his power, that requires the instructor

to slam both throttles to full afterburner and

hang on for dear life and hope the aeroplane

accelerates before we hit the runway.”

In the T-50, idle to mil power provides just

the right amount of power that you don’t get

into di culty. If the student does something

silly, the instructor can push the throttle to

mil and have adequate power to very quickly

recover from the situation without ever

getting into that cli [scenario]. There are a lot

of cli s and we’ve taken them out.

“So, what is the T-50’s afterburner for? Well,

the Republic of Korea Air Force introduces

each student to afterburner even though no

phase of the course requires that and is all

conducted in idle to mil power. Once a student

The second of two Lockheed Martin T-50As
based at Greenville, South Carolina, TX-2,
during a test fl ight from the facility. It’s notable
that both Boeing and Lockheed Martin have
painted their respective contender aircraft in
the current two-tone colour scheme as used
by T-38C Talons assigned to Air Education and
Training Command.

Assembly work on T-50A TX-2 underway in the Greenville facility. The two bronze-coloured aircraft seen in

the background of this shot are T-50 manufacturing test and demonstration models used by the Greenville

team to learn and practice fi nal assembly of the aircraft.

Lockheed Martin assembly crews busy working on T-50A aircraft TX-1 and TX-2 on the Greenville assembly line.