Aerospace
Boeing T-7A Red Hawk completes first flight with US Air Force
The U.S. Air Force’s first T-7A Red Hawk made its first flight, marking up the program’s engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) phase. This flight was completed by Boeing on behalf of the service.
During the 1 hour and 3-minute flight, U.S. Air Force Maj. Bryce Turner, 416th Test Squadron, and Steve Schmidt, Boeing T-7 chief test pilot, validated key aspects of the aircraft and demonstrated the power and agility of the Air Force’s first advanced trainer to be digitally designed, built and tested. The aircraft is one of five EMD aircraft that will be delivered to the Air Force Air Education and Training Command for further testing.
The T-7A’s vibrant red tails are a tribute to the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African American U.S. military aviators who flew red-tailed fighters during World War II.
The T-7A will enhance warfighter training through:
- Improved pilot readiness: The all-new advanced pilot training system uses high-resolution ground-based training systems and simulators to deliver robust and realistic integrated live, virtual and constructive training capabilities.
- Safety: Model-based engineering enabled testing throughout the aircraft’s design and build to help ensure safety before the first flight. The T-7A’s cockpit egress system is the safest of any trainer.
- Flexibility for any mission: With open architecture software and digital fly-by-wire controls, the T-7A supports training for a wide variety of fighter and bomber pilots and can evolve as technologies, threats and training needs change.
In 36 months, the T-7A went from a solid concept through flight testing. Model-based engineering, 3D design, and sophisticated manufacturing techniques boosted first-time quality by 75% and decreased assembly times by 80%.
