AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - October 2021 - T-16

that it takes practice, something that
a military student would have in great
supply by the time he or she reached this
final stage of T-6C training.
The weather came down to 2,000 feet
overcast, so this gave me the chance to fly
an ILS approach to the Newton, Kansas
City/County Airport's Runway 35. The
airplane excels in instrument conditions
and it helps that you have three separate
sources of nav guidance-from a planview
on a panel display, an HSI on the PFD,
and the HUD. I flew the HUD. It was very
intuitive-just nail the crosshairs to stay
on localizer and glideslope. To the right
you can see your altitude, at the left of the
HUD there's your airspeed, and there's
angle of attack guidance as well. ILS
approaches are flown at 120 knots fully
configured, slowing to 110 knots on short
final, a flare at 105 knots, and a touchdown
at 100 knots. There's no reverse thrust. Oh,
and no autopilot, either.
For the return to Beech Field, we flew
an overhead approach. For this, you fly
over the landing runway, tooling along at
200 knots. Halfway down the runway, pull
T-16
AOPA PILOT / October 2021
a couple Gs to turn downwind, go to idle
power in the turn, lower gear and flaps
on downwind as speed bleeds off, then
turn to final when abeam the numbers.
This gives you 120 knots as you roll out
on final. It's a maneuver meant to minimize
your time in the air when that close
to the ground, and it looks cool, too.
During the debrief, some of the
Textron Defense team recalled their
times delivering T-6s to foreign customers
and making ocean crossings using the
optional external fuel tanks-which give
you an extra 800 pounds of fuel. These
trips happen frequently. The T-6C's popularity
issues from the fact that it's docile
and easy to fly, yet challenging to fly precisely.
To help with that, Textron provides
instructor pilots to teach the customers'
instructors, plus a lot of other support,
such as simulation, spares, mechanic
training, and kits for night vision, weapons,
and much more. Sometimes, support
staff are embedded with customers' air
operations.
Then we ventured into the hypothetical.
Is there a general aviation market?
It's a macho airplane, with speed, range,
a pressurized cabin, and even luggage
capacity. The cockpit is military to the
max. It can power anti-G suits. It's aerobatic,
would draw gawkers on every ramp,
and dummy weapons pods would only add
to the appeal. And it's new-not an aging
warbird. It's not certified for civilian use,
so features such as the OBOGS, the weapons
software, and ejection seats would
certainly raise eyebrows. Would taking
them out be the answer?
So, of course, the T-6C would appeal
to general aviation customers. But how
many? With deals to client militaries,
price varies depending on the details of
each transaction. But there are individuals
who could, and would, ante up the
necessary millions. Raise your hand if
you're up for an airplane with attitude.
tom.horne@aopa.org
Post-flight, Tom Horne and Chip Schellhorn
(front and rear seats, respectively) celebrate
before heading to a debriefing session.
AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - October 2021

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