Plane spotters-what are these? | FerrariChat
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Plane spotters-what are these?

Discussion in 'Aviation Chat' started by GuyIncognito, Jul 25, 2010.

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  1. GuyIncognito

    GuyIncognito Nine Time F1 World Champ
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    #1 GuyIncognito, Jul 25, 2010
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    I spotted this squadron of planes (there were at least six of them, in the process of taxiing out so maybe more?) at a local airport (Spirit of St Louis, SUS).

    two passenger, single prop but all were decked out in USAF livery.

    anybody know what these are, what they were doing there, etc?
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  2. wrxmike

    wrxmike Moderator
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    #2 wrxmike, Jul 25, 2010
    Last edited: Jul 25, 2010
    Looks like a Pilatus PC-21


    Edit

    More like a Pilatus PC 9 (Beech Pilatus PC-9 Mk.2 )
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilatus_PC-9

    and
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-6A_Texan_II
     
  3. GuyIncognito

    GuyIncognito Nine Time F1 World Champ
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    #3 GuyIncognito, Jul 25, 2010
    wow, that was fast! thanks! gotta love Fchat :)

    so are these active USAF planes, or some sort of vintage warbird club?
     
  4. Blue@Heart

    Blue@Heart F1 Rookie

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    #4 Blue@Heart, Jul 25, 2010
    I'm not 100% but I would think that they are advanced trainers for the USAF :)
     
  5. alexm

    alexm F1 Veteran

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    #5 alexm, Jul 25, 2010
  6. MarkPDX

    MarkPDX F1 World Champ
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    #6 MarkPDX, Jul 25, 2010
    Last edited: Jul 25, 2010
    Those are T-6 Texan IIs and are a current (and fairly new) training aircraft. The are a bunch of them in the inventory and they are based at a bunch of places and it's not unusual to see them flying around the countryside. There is (or at least a couple years was) a USAF demo team that flew them and put on a pretty good show.
     
  7. tazandjan

    tazandjan Three Time F1 World Champ
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    #7 tazandjan, Jul 25, 2010
    Mark is correct. The T-6A Texan II is the new basic trainer for the USAF, replacing the Cessna T-37, which is retiring after being the USAF's primary trainer since the mid-1950s. Next to go with be the supersonic Northrop T-38, which first saw service as the USAF's advanced trainer in 1961.

    The T-6A is based on the Pilatus PC-9, like Mike said above. You will see them cross-country at airfields with military aircraft all over the US.

    Taz
    Terry Phillips
     
  8. GuyIncognito

    GuyIncognito Nine Time F1 World Champ
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    #8 GuyIncognito, Jul 26, 2010
    thanks guys.

    so most likely this was some form of training mission? or could it have been a recruiting tool?

    I'm just curious about them being at this particular airport-there is an AF base (Scott) and an aviation college (Parks) in Southern IL, about 50 miles away, so I was surprised to see them at a random general aviation field.

    maybe the Marines filled the tanks and they ran out of gas :D:D:D
     
  9. rydermike

    rydermike Formula Junior

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    #9 rydermike, Jul 26, 2010
    Navigational training or perhaps just relocating them?
     
  10. Gatorrari

    Gatorrari F1 World Champ
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    #10 Gatorrari, Jul 26, 2010
    And what will replace them? IMO, the best choice is the KAI T-50 Golden Eagle, developed in conjunction with Lockheed Martin.

    http://www.lockheedmartin.com/products/t50/index.html
     
  11. 10boom

    10boom Karting

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    #11 10boom, Jul 27, 2010
    These guys are from Vance AFB in Enid, OK as referenced by the tail code on the airplane. My guess is they were doing a formation sortie mixed in with a cross country.
     

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