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Raytheon Debuts Its Upgraded T-6B, Claiming a High-Volume Market
Edge
"We are currently the highest-volume producer of military
aircraft in the world," says Sherry Grady, government business
vp at Raytheon Aircraft. And although Raytheon's military aircraft
are rather small, being light trainers, the experience and technical
backing made possible by producing 70 or so each year allows the
firm to claim a strong advantage in what is otherwise an over-crowded
sector.
Raytheon expects to build 69 of its €4.86 million ($6 million)
T-6A Texan II trainers for the U.S. Air Force and Navy this year,
toward an eventual fleet of 454 for the Air Force and 328 for the
Navy, for a total of 782 through 2017.
The emphasis here at Farnborough is the new T-6B, a €5 million
($6.2 million) derivative that includes the munitions-bearing hardpoints
of T-6As being built for Greece, and a SparrowHawk head-up display
from Flight Visions.
"We are eager to get the T-6B with the upgraded avionics in
front of potential customers," Grady says.
The missionized T-6B, using the Flight Visions FV-4000 mission
computer and proven operational flight program, can be outfitted
with guns, rockets and bombs, fulfilling a secondary role as a light
attack aircraft, Raytheon says.
The T-6B has 85% commonality with the T-6A. The Flight Visions
HUD, FV-4000 processor, stores management, and multifunction displays
are said to provide the T-6B with "cockpit management functions
employed in the latest front line fighters [and] an open-architecture
mission computer giving the aircraft a multirole capability as both
a trainer and a light attack aircraft."
What's more, Grady says, Raytheon offers a full training package
with FlightSafety International simulators, and technician as well
as pilot training—"everything you need from soup to nuts
to train."
"There is no other training system in the world that can offer
that," Grady told Show News. One more selling point:
Raytheon has pledged to support the T-6 until 2050.
—Rich Piellisch
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Wagstaff for T-6 Anthropometrics
Aerobatic champion Patty Wagstaff will be flying a T-6 to
demonstrate the aircraft's handling qualities and performance
here.
Her routine, Raytheon says, will highlight the aircraft's
handling qualities, versatility and safety at both high speeds
and low.
Wagstaff is a three-time U.S. National Aerobatic Champion
and a six-time member of the U.S. Aerobatic Team, the manufacturer
reports, noting that her size plays a role in this week's
T-6 demos. "At 5-foot, 4-inches tall," the company
says, "Wagstaff demonstrates the T-6's anthropometric
cockpit, which is capable of accommodating pilots as small
as 5-feet, 3-inches and 98 pounds, and as large as 6-feet,
4-inches and 240 pounds."
Patty Wagstaff is here fresh from her induction into the
National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio.
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Raytheon Readying Multimission King Air
Raytheon Aircraft is laying the groundwork—and airwork—for
a multimission aircraft based on the Beech King Air 350 turboprop.
The company's original 350 test aircraft, first flown in 1988,
has been fitted with an outsize radome to accommodate special
radar systems, and heavier landing gear, and has been flight-tested
with and without the winglets that are standard on the commercial
model.
"We've done what makes sense for us to do on our own
nickel," says Raytheon government business vp Sherry
Grady. Next on the list is integration of the King Air 350's
new Pro Line 21 avionics with the special mission package,
she told Show News.
King Air 200s, Beech 1900Ds, Beechjet 400As and Hawker 800XPs
are all operated as special missions craft by countries including
Brazil, Israel, Japan and Korea.
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