What's The EASIEST Military Trainer To Fly/Learn In?

[Bill Greenwood]

Not neccessarily the best trainer or the hotest, but what is easiest for an new pilot, and perhaps therefore the safest?
My list:

1. Beech T-34 A or B, (not C, that is a different beast)
The T-34 is perhaps the easiest plane to fly that I have ever tried. It is the military version of a Bonanza. You sit on the centerline, you have a stick, and a fabulous view out the buble canopy. The forward view is so good that you can almost see the nosewheel. It has nice response to the controls and if very stable and forgiving on approach, with a stall speed of about 48 knots gear and flaps down. Minimum run approach speed is 50 knots in the book, and you can do it, I have done it myself. You need some power and when you close the throotle it just sits and does not roll far. The brakes are pretty good if you even need them.
It could hardly be easier, kind of in a class by itself.

There have been two Mentor fatals due to wing problems, but if the maintenance is up to par, and you stay within the G limit( utility category of 6 gs, IF STRAIGHT AND LEVEL, and max speed it should not happen. There is an inspection and repair AD that most all have had done by now.

2. J3 Cub

3. Chipmunk

4. Tiger Moth

5. T-6. This calls for a lot better pilot,and of course is a much more thorough trainer.

Last edited by Bill Greenwood on Tue Feb 02, 2010 3:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Holedigger]

Link Trainer!

[Seafury1]

Not neccessarily the best trainer or the hotest, but what is easiest for an new pilot, and perhaps therefore the safest?
My list:

1. Beech T-34 A or B, (not C, that is a different beast)
The T-34 is perhaps the easiest plane to fly that I have ever tried. It is the military version of a Bonanza. You sit on the centerline, you have a stick, and a fabulous view out the buble canopy. The forward view is so good that you can almost see the nosewheel. It has nice response to the controls and if very stable and forgiving on approach, with a stall speed of about 48 knots gear and flaps down.
It coudl hardly be easier, kind of in a class by itself.

2. J3 Cub

3. Chipmunk

4. Tiger Moth

5. T-6. This calls for a lot better pilot,and of course is a much more thorough trainer.

I'm guessing a T-41 would be the easiest military trainer and the best for teaching a zero time pilot. Then the J3. Everything has it's challenges;
T-34 = Still complex for a beginner. Prop flaps retracts, can ruin a new guys day.
J3 = foot hand eye coordination for the tail wheel
Chipmunk = add a backwards prop to the J3
Tiger Moth = low wing, backwards prop
T-6 = Complex high performance, don't think I'd start here.
Stearman= can eat your lunch if your not on the rudder all the time.
I'm still paranoid about flaps and gear, when it comes to complex.

[Bill Greenwood]

As for a T-41, that is basically a 172. It has one big disadvantage vs the T-34, the Cessna visibilty is poor except straight down in level flight. It is particularly bad in when you are banking for a turn as in the landing pattern. The high wing blanks out the what you are turning into.
Both the 172 and the T-34 stall and approach slowly, but with the T-34 you sit on the centerline and not off to the side. And the T-34 handles a lot better, a better feel and response to the controls.
The retract gear in the Mentor is no big deal, you just learn it as the main part of your landing check list. The prop is no big deal, its just full forwrd for takeoff and landing. The flaps are liike a Cessna, certainly no more effort required.

As for the backwards prop, when I flew a Tiger Moth I really didn't even notice, you just use whatever rudder is needed to keep the nose straight. Now something like a Griffon Spitfire or Centaurus Fury might be more demanding.

The T-6 requires more , that is why I put it last on the list.

[the330thbg]

ahhhhh.., someone beat me to Link!!!!

Drats!!

[bdk]

Didn't the military use some Aircoupes?

[Holedigger]

They sure did. It was also the first US guinea pig with a JATO bottle!

[oscardeuce]

My "GUMP"

Gear
Undercarrige
Make sure the gear's down
Put the gear down

[Enemy Ace]

Bill is this a rhetorical question or are you trying to steer someone to something?

I submit that the Nanchang CJ-6A is the best warbird trainer out there:
1. Easy to fly, but a fairly large plane that you have to pay attention to.
2. Not a taildragger, so no currency problems, etc. If you don't fly a CJ for a month, it's no big deal, If you haven't flown your Stearman in a while you could be asking for problems.
3. Easy buy in cost, @ 75K will get you a super nice plane, flyable projects can be had for @ 60K.
4. Plentiful and cheap spare parts, great owner network. (red star pilot's assoc.)
5. Plenty of type specific fly-in's, and formation clinics.
6. It has a cool RADIAL engine. Also easy on gas at @12-14GPH. compare that to 50 GPH in T-6.
7. Tandem cockpit, stick, throttle on left side.
8. You can work on it yourself, (experimental category)
9. Capable of reasonable aerobatics
10. No spar or FAA issues unlike T-6 and T-34.
11. Nobody will ever accuse you of flying what is basically a military bonanza.

I could go on and on, most of this also applies to the Yak-52.....-Robert

[bipe215]

I would vote T-41 as the easiest. I have had a non-pilot start, run up, take off, fly around and land just with verbal only instructions. I never touched the yoke, rudder pedals or throttle. I don't think he could have done that with a T-34 or a Cub. Did have 6600' of runway to work with though.

Steve G

[Bill Greenwood]

Enemy Ace. Since I have not flown a CJ-6 I can't say for sure,but some of the things you mention like cost or parts availability or fly ins, don't have anything thing to do with how EASY it is to fly, and that is my topic. Your topic might be "best" but that is not mine.
I am not sure what you mean by "steer someone". I am not selling any of them, not T-34, not CJ or Yak, nor do I have any financial interest in their sale in any way, nor any association or club.

Not part of my topic, but a T-6 does not burn anywhere near 50 gph in cruise. Without looking it up in the manual I'd guess about 30 gph or so. My Spitfire has 3 times the power of a T-6 and only burns 47 gph in economy cruise.

[Dave Hadfield]

For quite a while in Canada we were training ab initio in Beech Musketeers. It's hard to imagine anything easier than that, except of course you're not on centerline. Now we're using Katanas, I believe. Same difference.

I'd rule out high-wing, because they're poor for formation -- if you stay same altitude (though you don't have to of course) as soon as you bank your leader disappears.

But it's a lousy idea to choose easy, in my opinion. Better to set the bar a little higher.

In WWII the BCATP, which trained167,000 aircrew, including 8800 Americans in the first 3 years of the war (Godfrey, Gentile, many others), could have chosen the Piper Cub. Instead, they picked the Tiger Moth and Fleet Finch (and some PT-26s). This was because it was harder, even though it cost more. (Like JFK's famous speech.)

Pilots say, "If you can fly a T-6 well you can fly a fighter." That's true. But what's also true is that if you can fly a Tiger Moth (or a Stearman) well, you can fly a T-6.

They figured you get better pilots. Or, you can choose better pilots, which might be more accurate.

My 2 cents, anyway,

Dave

[EDowning]

The Yale probably wouldn't make the list.

[Cvairwerks]

Bill: I think you need to factor a couple of things into the question to come up with the answer for the situation.

Location: Where training is going to be conducted will have a definite impact. You don't want to put a basic student in a T-34 on a minimal grass strip and conversely, you don't want to try to train with a J-3 at DFW.

Student/Instructor size...Shoehorning a big pair into a J-3 isn't going to work most likely, while putting a small student in deep pit like a Tiger Moth or Chippie is going to equally be problematic.

Intent...If the student plans or desires transitioning to something in higher performance with a tail wheel, then the more tailwheel training the better. If this is just a stepping stone to spamcan bug smashers, then probably a T-41 or the like would be better.

Lastly, cost and time...A low budget and long intervals between flying days points again towards the T-41...the more frequent the flying, then tail wheel...

While the T-34 has lots of advantages, I think it's a bit too much for a basic student in any enviroment other than an intense training program where the student is flying nearly every day. Additionally, the T-34 has the highest cost per hour to operate as well as the most expensive insurance requirements of any of the listed other than possibly the Stearman.

[Ken]

Didn't specify the period in history or what we were training our future military pilot to fly .... but the easiest would be the T-41. Good handling manners, easy to spin, takes punishment, tolerant of mistakes, simple systems, solid mx history, the list goes on. It's not a dream machine, but a good IP/CFI can use this airplane to illustrate an endless number of basic skills (including instruments) that will serve the student well as he/she progresses to more complex birds.