LM Test Pilot Reaches 100 Hours in the T-50A

November 08, 2017

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Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] test pilot Mark "Red" Ward reached a new milestone by becoming the first pilot to reach 100 flight hours in the the T-50A, the company's offering for the U.S. Air Force's Advanced Pilot Training (APT) competition.

"This has been a great opportunity to be involved in a project that is so important to the U.S. Air Force and the foundation for pilot training," Ward said. "It's a great plane to fly and will make an excellent trainer for generations of pilots to come."

Ward passed the 100-hour mark shortly after take-off from Greenville on the way to the 2017 Joint Base San Antonio Air Show and Open House at JBSA-Lackland Kelly Field Annex in Texas , which took place Nov. 4-5. 

Flight operations began at the Greenville site in November 2016 as the team worked toward a March 2017 proposal deadline and submission of the required flight test data at the end of June.

The T-50A is ready on day one of contract award and is purpose-built around 5th Generation thinking. It will train the U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II pilots of tomorrow, as well as pilots for frontline 4th Generation aircraft. The T-50A builds upon the proven heritage of the T-50 family of aircraft with more than 150 T-50s flying today – 150,000 flight hours and counting – and more than 2,000 pilots who have trained in this aircraft.

Lockheed Martin's accompanying T-50A Ground-Based Training System features innovative technologies that deliver an immersive, synchronized ground-based training platform. GBTS is integrated with the aircraft providing Live, Virtual, Constructive (LVC) training capability today.

Source : Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT)