| Press Release Number: E200608161 | 16-Aug-06 |
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Transforming the Pegasus |
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| By Stephanie Vendrasco PEO (A) Public Affair Support The Navy’s primary Multi-engine training aircraft, the T-44A Pegasus, will receive an avionics upgrade to replace obsolescent avionics with a commercial-off-the-shelf integrated digital cockpit. "The T-44A has served the Chief of Naval Air Training well, but is facing cockpit avionics obsolescence issues due to the equipment unsupportability,” said Capt. Charles Everett, program manager Undergraduate Flight Training Systems, PMA-273. “In keeping with the mantra of cost-wise readiness and with meeting future training requirements, our T-44 team has determined that there are non-developmental commercial off the shelf items available and affordable that meet all requirements.” As the Naval Undergraduate Flight Training Systems Program Office orchestrates Pegasus’ transformation from T-44A to T-44C, the new designation given to upgraded aircraft, this new and improved aircraft will provide student aviators with state of the art pilot training ensuring a seamless transition to Fleet aircraft already equipped with glass cockpits. “The T-44C is a product of the successful teaming between NAVAIR and its industry partners,” said Susan Leach, PMA-273, T-44 team lead. “The T-44 cockpit working group has worked diligently for the past five years to provide a state-of-the-art integrated digital cockpit to the Fleet that will meet the Chief of Naval Air Training’s multi-engine training requirements.” The T-44A Cockpit Working Group consisted of representatives from PMA-273, Aviation Training Systems Program Office, NAVAIR’s Commercial Derivative Aircraft Engineering Program, Air Test and Evaluation Squadron Two Zero, VT-31, COMTRAWING FOUR, Chief of Naval Air Training, L-3 Communications Vertex Aerospace, ARINC, and Rockwell Collins. This upgrade will provide multi-engine students with an integrated Flight Management System, an Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System, a Terrain Awareness System, a Weather Radar with moving map, a Traffic Avoidance System, an Emergency Stand By System, a UHF/VHF Radio, and a new intercom system. There are 54 aircraft in the active inventory. The Navy has already delivered three T-44C aircraft to Training Squadron Thirty One (VT-31) while six are currently being upgraded by L-3 Communication Vertex Aerospace/Nomad Aviation in Sanford, FL. The remaining 45 aircraft are scheduled to receive the avionics upgrade during FY07 through FY10 as part of a separate competitive contract. The Navy’s Beechcraft-manufactured T-44A has been used to train Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, and foreign military aviation students to fly multi-engine turbo-prop aircraft for more than twenty-nine years. T-44A operational flight trainers and system courseware are also in the process of being upgraded to reflect the avionics suite upgrade, which will be managed by Aviation Training Systems, PMA-205, and executed by the Naval Air Warfare Centers Training Systems Directorate in Orlando, FL. -end- Photo: The Navy's Multi-engine training aircraft, the T-44 Pegasus. Phonto: The T-44C's upgraded commercial-off-the-shelf integrated digital cockpit. |
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