12 Facts About Trainer aircraft

Trainer is a class of aircraft designed specifically to facilitate flight training of pilots and aircrews.

Two seating configurations for trainer aircraft are: pilot and instructor side by side, or in tandem, usually with the pilot in front and the instructor behind.

For example, for many years the Indian Air Force operated without a suitable advanced training Trainer aircraft, leading to a high casualty rate as pilots moved to high performance MiG-21 Trainer aircraft without suitable assessment of their aptitude for supersonic flight.

Effective combat Trainer aircraft are a function now of electronics as much as, if not more so than, the aerobatic ability or speed of an Trainer aircraft.

Those pilots who train to fly transports, tankers and other multi-engine Trainer aircraft begin with small multi-engine Trainer aircraft such as the T-44A Pegasus variant of the Beechcraft King Air.

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However, most of these Trainer aircraft do not have the counter measures and sensors required to survive alone in a modern high intensity war fighting scenario, for example being vulnerable to MANPADS.

For example, Impala aircraft derived from the Aermacchi MB-326 trainer formed the main strike strength of the South African Air Force in its Bush war, and aircraft such as the Hongdu JL-8 are being acquired for the attack role in low intensity theatres.

In high-intensity conflicts, advanced trainer type aircraft can have a military utility if they operate under an umbrella of other aerial assets.

Nations will be required to continue to push the modernisation of existing Trainer aircraft or co-operate in the development and procurement of advanced training Trainer aircraft.

The French used a graduated system in which a pilot learned in progressively more capable Trainer aircraft, starting with Trainer aircraft that had been modified to prevent them from flying – called rouleurs or penguins.

The supply of obsolete aircraft proved inadequate and production of Caudron G III, Nieuport 83 and other types specifically for training was undertaken.

When Germany began rearming in the 1930s, many of the initial aircraft were designed with a dual role, so that when they were obsolete in their combat role they would be used as trainers.