Chapter 1000 - 105 Difficult Choices
After Yang Yi had become very familiar with flying the small aircraft, the T-6A, he began to realize its true purpose.
What does that mean? The T-6A is a trainer aircraft, a military trainer to be precise, which exists not to teach people who can’t fly to learn to fly, but to simulate learning to fly other types of aircraft for those who already know how to fly.
The T-6A is a propeller aircraft, and is also a primary trainer, but one thing to be clear about is that the T-6A is not outdated. Although its slower speed is a downside, as a trainer aircraft, the only downside is that slower speed.
In the United States, there are two kinds of trainer aircraft: the primary trainer T-6A and the advanced trainer T-38. However, the T-6A, except for not being able to simulate the speed of a jet fighter, is largely used as an all-purpose trainer.
That is to say, even with the T-6A, it is possible to simulate fighters like the F-15. Although there is a substantial difference in speed, what is important is the avionics systems of the trainer. If Yang Yi wishes to do so, he could learn to fly a transport aircraft on a T-6A.
Air Force fighter pilots must progress to advanced trainers, but for pilots of transport planes, bombers, including refueling planes, as long as it’s not a fighter, all system learning can be done on the T-6A. After graduating from the T-6A, they can proceed to real aircraft training.
In the CIA’s training camp, there are several variants of the T-6A, two of which even have complete Fire Control Systems.
Of course, the Fire Control Systems on trainers cannot be used to actually mount missiles or anything of that sort, but if the trainer simulates an F-15, then after graduating from this trainer, the pilot would at least know where the fire control switch is and how to operate it on the actual F-15.
After saying all that, the point is that Yang Yi suddenly realized after nearly twenty flight hours that there was something more in his trainer. Only then did he discover that this aircraft was used to train CIA spies on how to fly an F16.