McDonnell Douglas T-45 Goshawk

T-45 Goshawk
The T-45A in flight
Role Naval trainer aircraft
Manufacturer McDonnell Douglas
Boeing
BAE Systems
First flight 16 April 1988[1]
Introduction 1991
Status In service
Primary user United States Navy
Number built 221[2]
Developed from BAE Systems Hawk

The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) T-45 Goshawk is a highly modified version of the BAE Hawk land-based training jet aircraft. Manufactured by McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) and British Aerospace (now BAE Systems), the T-45 is used by the United States Navy as an aircraft carrier-capable trainer.

Design and development

The T-45 Goshawk is a fully carrier-capable version of the British Aerospace Hawk Mk.60.[1][3] It was developed as a jet flight trainer for the United States Navy (USN) and United States Marine Corps (USMC).

The Goshawk's origins were in the mid-1970s, when the USN began looking for a single aircraft replacement for both its T-2 and TA-4 jet trainers.[4][5] The USN started the VTXTS advanced trainer program in 1978. British Aerospace (BAe) and McDonnell Douglas (MDC) proposed a version of the Hawk and were awarded the T-45 contract in 1981.[6]

A pair of T-45A Goshawks during a training flight over Texas

The Hawk had not been designed for carrier operations, so numerous modifications were required to make it suitable for use on carriers. These included improvements to the low-speed handling characteristics and a reduction in the approach speed.[4] The aircraft was found to be apt to stall at the low approach speed required. Modifications were designed by BAe in England; most notably a simple slat system was devised, operated by an actuator and linkage mechanism to fit into the small space available. Strakes were also added on the fuselage to improve airflow. Other changes included a strengthened airframe,[7] more robust and wider landing gear with catapult tow bar attachment and an arresting hook,[4] a two-wheel nose landing gear,[8] wing-tips squared off, 6-inch (0.152 m) extension to the tail fin, an increased span tailplane (also with squared-off tips fitted) and a single ventral fin in front of the arrestor hook.[9]

BAE Systems manufactures the fuselage aft of the cockpit, the air inlets, and the vertical stabilizer of the T-45 at Samlesbury, and the wings at Brough, England. Boeing, which merged with McDonnell Douglas in 1997, manufactures the remainder of the aircraft and assembles them in St. Louis, Missouri, after moving the program from the Long Beach, California facility.

On 16 March 2007, the 200th airframe was delivered to the USN.[10] Later production aircraft were built with enhanced avionics systems for a head-up display (HUD) and glass cockpit standard, while all extant T-45A aircraft were eventually converted to a T-45C configuration under the T-45 Required Avionics Modernization Program, bringing all aircraft to same HUD plus glass cockpit standard. The final delivery of the 221st aircraft took place in November 2009.[11]

Operational history

A T-45 Goshawk being launched from USS John C. Stennis in 2010
A T-45 Goshawk making an arrested landing on USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in 2011

The T-45 has been used for intermediate and advanced portions of the Navy/Marine Corps Student Naval Aviator strike pilot training program with Training Air Wing One at Naval Air Station Meridian, Mississippi, and Training Air Wing Two at Naval Air Station Kingsville, Texas. The T-45 replaced the T-2C Buckeye intermediate jet trainer and the TA-4J Skyhawk II advanced jet trainer with an integrated training system that includes the T-45 Goshawk aircraft, operational and instrument flight simulators, academics, and training integration system support. In 2008, the T-45C also began operation in the advanced portion of Navy/Marine Corps Student Naval Flight Officer training track for strike aircraft with Training Air Wing Six at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida. A small number of the aircraft is also operated by the Naval Air Systems Command at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland.

The original T-45A, which became operational in 1991, contained an analog cockpit design, while the newer T-45C, which was first delivered in December 1997, features a new digital "glass cockpit" design. All T-45A aircraft currently in operational use are upgraded to T-45C standard. The T-45 is to remain in service until 2035 or later.[10]

In 2017, the USN grounded the T-45 fleet for a three-day "safety pause" after more than 100 instructor pilots refused to fly the aircraft. The pilots cited concerns about incidents of hypoxia that they believed to have resulted from faulty onboard oxygen-generation systems.[12][13] Over the past five years physiological episodes linked to problems with the T-45's oxygen system have nearly have quadrupled, according to testimony from senior naval aviators in April 2017.[14]

Variants

T-45A
Two-seat basic and advanced jet trainer for the USN and USMC
T-45B
Proposed land-based version for the USN, which would have been basically a conventional Hawk with a Navy-spec cockpit and no carrier capability: The Navy had wanted the T-45B to get an earlier training capability, but abandoned the idea in 1984 in favor of less-costly updates to the TA-4J and T-2C.
T-45C
Improved T-45A with glass cockpit, inertial navigation, and other improvements: Existing T-45As were upgraded to the T-45C standard.[15]

Operators

T-45 Goshawks on board USS Harry S. Truman in 2005
 United States

Specifications (T-45A)

Data from The International Directory of Military Aircraft, 2002–2003,[3] Navy fact file[8]

General characteristics

Performance

Armament

Avionics

Data from naval-technology.com

Communications suite

Data from naval-technology.com

See also

External image
Hi-res cutaway of T-45 Goshawk
Hi-res cutaway of T-45 Goshawk by Flight Global.

Related development
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

Related lists

References

  1. 1 2 Donald, David: Warplanes of the Fleet, p. 175. AIRtime Publishing Inc, 2004. ISBN 1-880588-81-1
  2. ↑ "Boeing, US Navy Celebrate T-45 Jet Trainer's Million-Flight-Hour Milestone". Boeing Defense, Space & Security. 26 August 2010. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
  3. 1 2 Frawley, Gerard: The International Directory of Military Aircraft, p. 48. Aerospace Publications Pty Ltd, 2002. ISBN 1-875671-55-2
  4. 1 2 3 Goebel, Greg, "T-45 Goshawk". VectorSite.net, 1 March 2006.
  5. ↑ T-45 history page. US Navy, 16 November 2000.
  6. ↑ T-45 history on GlobalSecurity.org
  7. ↑ Frawley, Gerard: The International Directory of Military Aircraft, Aerospace Publications Pty Ltd, 2002. ISBN 1-875671-55-2
  8. 1 2 T-45A US Navy fact file
  9. ↑ "Boeing/BAE Systems T-45 Goshawk Aircraft Profile". Aeroflight. aeroflight.co.uk. 23 December 2010. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  10. 1 2 "Boeing Delivers 200th T-45 Trainer to U.S. Navy". Boeing, 16 March 2007.
  11. ↑ "Boeing, US Navy Celebrate T-45 Jet Trainer's Million-Flight-Hour Milestone". Boeing Defense, Space & Security. 26 August 2010. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
  12. ↑ OMelveny, Sean. "Navy Instructor Pilots Refusing to Fly Over Safety Concerns". Military.com. Retrieved 2017-04-06.
  13. ↑ OMelveny, Sean. "Navy Announces Three-Day Grounding for T-45s After Pilot Strike". Military.com. Retrieved 2017-04-06.
  14. ↑ "NAVY says T-45 jets grounded indefinitely, following Fox News exclusive". Fox News. 2017-04-08. Retrieved 2017-04-09.
  15. ↑ http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/us-carrier-pilots-t45-training-system-updated-03022/
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