Warplanes: Contractor Flight Instructors

Archives

October 4, 2015: Australia is buying 49 Pilatus PC-21 basic flight training aircraft. Australia also has a new contractor (Lockheed Martin) to supply training staff for the basic flight training that future fighter and helicopter pilots receive. The training contract begins in 2019. The training operation also serves Singapore, Brunei and Papua New Guinea.  This sort of outsourcing is increasingly popular, mainly because it is cheaper, especially for smaller countries that can’t really operate a flight school at an economical rate. These contractors use the same quality (often retired military) staff and have been very successful.

The choice of trainer aircraft is also important and the PC-21 is a very popular and effective choice. The propeller driven PC-21 has a pressurized cockpit with a bubble canopy and a modern "glass" cockpit. The aircraft can pull 8 Gs while maneuvering. There are five hard-points, enabling the aircraft to carry a ton of bombs and missiles. The PC-21 cruises at 660 kilometers an hour and has a max speed of 720 kilometers an hour. Max altitude is 12,000 meters (38,000 feet).

 

 


Article Archive

Warplanes: Current 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 


X

ad
0
20

Help Keep Us Soaring

We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling. We need your help in reversing that trend. We would like to add 20 new subscribers this month.

Each month we count on your subscriptions or contributions. You can support us in the following ways:

  1. Make sure you spread the word about us. Two ways to do that are to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
  2. Subscribe to our daily newsletter. We’ll send the news to your email box, and you don’t have to come to the site unless you want to read columns or see photos.
  3. You can contribute to the health of StrategyPage. A contribution is not a donation that you can deduct at tax time, but a form of crowdfunding. We store none of your information when you contribute..
Subscribe   Contribute   Close