MILTON — “These are the sports cars,” flight student ENS Tyler Johnson said, regarding the T-6B Texan II turboprop training aircraft.
“Sitting in this the first time got to me,” Johnson said, regarding the plane’s acrobatic capabilities. “They’re a whole different breed.”
In a Wednesday ceremony complete with twin sprays of water from Fire and Emergency Services Gulf Coast fire trucks, the centennial edition and the first T-6B of Whiting Field accompanied the final of 148 T-6B aircraft down the runway to the WF North Field Hangar.
Lt. Scott Urbashich, Training Airwing Five Instructor of the Year, and Capt. Mark Murray, commodore of TRAWING-5, were among those who attended the ceremony.
Speaking to the assembly of military personnel, instructors and students, Murray said, “It’s really not about the airplane.”
The Beechcraft Defense Company built the T-6B, and Murray said he’s visited the plant in Wichita twice now and witnessed the work ethic.
“This is something they are incredibly passionate about,” he said.
It wasn’t always easy, he said, such as when the federal government cut funding for the T-6B for a year.
Here are some of the T-6B Texan II specifications:
●Primary function: all-purpose jet trainer
●Contractor: Hawker Beechcraft Aircraft company
●Date Deployed: first flight, July 10, 2009; operational, April 19, 2010
●Propulsion: one Pratt & Whitney Canada PT-6A-68 turboprop engine; 1,100 horsepower
●Length: 33.3 feet
●Height: 10.8 feet
●Wingspan: 33.4 feet
●Weight: empty, 5,850 pounds, maximum takeoff weight, 6,900 pounds
●Airspeed: 270 knots at 1,000 feet level flight
●Ceiling: 31,000 feet
●Range: maximum, 850 nautical miles
Crew: Two (instructor pilot, student pilot)
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This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: NAS Whiting Field receives final T-6B Texan II training aircraft