Temco TT Pinto (original) (raw)

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TT Pinto
Temco TT-1 in testing
General information
Type Jet Trainer
Manufacturer Temco Aircraft
Primary user United States Navy
Number built 15
History
Introduction date 1959
First flight 26 March 1956
Retired 1960
Variants AJI T-610 Super Pinto

The Temco TT Pinto is a tandem two-seat primary jet trainer built for the United States Navy by Temco Aircraft of Dallas, Texas.[_citation needed_]

Design and development

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TT-1s being assembled in Dallas (1957)

The Temco Model 51 had been initially proposed to the US Air Force in response to an Air Force competition for a jet-powered primary trainer, which was won by the Cessna T-37 Tweet. The concept behind the Model 51 was an attempt to provide primary training in a jet-powered aircraft. The official name for the Model 51 was the Pinto.[_citation needed_]

The Pinto was a mid-wing, tricycle landing gear trainer with an enclosed cockpit powered by a single Continental Motors J69-T-9 (license-built Turbomeca Marboré) jet engine. The aircraft carried no armament.[_citation needed_]

The TT-1s were equipped with many of the same features found in operational jets, including ejection seats, liquid oxygen equipment, speed brakes, along with typical flight controls and instrument panels. Although the flight characteristics were considered good, the "wave off" capability was rated marginal due to being slightly underpowered.[_citation needed_]

After its first flight in 1956, the prototype was sent to the Naval Air Test Center (NATC) Patuxent River to be evaluated alongside the Beech Model 73 Jet Mentor. Fourteen of the aircraft, designated TT-1, were produced between 1955 and 1957.[_citation needed_]

AJI T-610 Super Pinto

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In 1968, American Jet Industries (AJI) (later to become Gulfstream Aerospace) re-engined a TT-1 Pinto. The J69 was replaced with a 2,850 lbf (12.7 kN) General Electric CJ610 (the civil version of the J85). The modified aircraft, called the T-610 Super Pinto, flew on 28 June 1968.[1] The new engine significantly increased performance, with maximum speed reaching 450 kn (518 mph; 833 km/h), and AJI marketed the aircraft as a light attack aircraft.[1][2]

The prototype Super Pinto, together with drawings and production rights, were purchased by the Philippine Air Force, which planned to build the aircraft as the T-610 Cali.[3] An incomplete second prototype was shipped to the Philippines where it was completed and flown, however the collapse of the Marcos administration resulted in the shelving of the project.

In 1988 a joint venture was announced for a new version of the Super Pinto, called T-100 Super Mustang, to be built by a collaboration between the American Avstar, Inc. and the Chinese Shenyang Aircraft Corporation.[4] A prototype powered by a General Electric J85 turbojet was reportedly flight-tested in the United States, however nothing further came of this project.

Operational history

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A U.S. Navy TT-1 in flight (1958)

In 1959, these aircraft served in the Air Training Command at Pensacola, Florida and used in a training program demonstration testing the feasibility of using a jet-powered trainer for primary flight training.[_citation needed_]

By the end of 1960, the TT-1s were phased out of operations in the Naval Air Training Command because performance was deemed insufficient,[5] and sold as surplus.

TT-1 Pinto

Two-seat primary jet trainer aircraft.

American Jet Industries T-610 Super Pinto

Re-engined with 2,850 lbf (12.7 kN) General Electric CJ610-6 turbojet.[1]

McDonnell Model 182

Proposed modification of a TT-1 for use as a testbed for McDonnell Aircraft Corporation's "spin jet" propulsion system. Proposed in 1961.[6]

McDonnell Model 183

Proposed modification of a TT-1 for use as a testbed for a VTOL installation of the "spin jet" propulsion system. Proposed alongside the Model 182 in 1961, the Model 183 would have used a redesigned wing.[6]

United States

T-610 prototype, Philippine Air Force Museum

In December 2016, five of the TT-1 Pinto series still appeared on the U.S. civil register[7] (one with an expired certificate[8]), down from seven, four of them Super Pintos, in 2011.[_citation needed_]

As of late 2015, one T-610 prototype was still preserved at the Philippine Air Force Museum.[9]

Specifications (TT-1)

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Data from Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1956–57[10]

General characteristics

Performance

Related development

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

  1. ^ a b c Taylor 1971, p. 223.
  2. ^ Field Flight International 16 October 1976, p. 1185.
  3. ^ Flight International 1 March 1980, p. 680.
  4. ^ Asian Defence Journal Issues 7-12, 1988; Page 110
  5. ^ "TT-1 Pinto | National Naval Aviation Museum". www.navalaviationmuseum.org. Archived from the original on 2014-07-13.
  6. ^ a b McDonnell Model Numbers (PDF). McDonnell Douglas. July 1, 1974. p. 157.
  7. ^ FAA Registry for Temco TT-1 Pinto, retrieved 07 Dec 2016.
  8. ^ FAA Registry for N4486L, retrieved 07 Dec 2016.
  9. ^ 44233 at Manila - Ninoy Aquino International by Paul Chandler1 on netAirspace.com, retrieved 07 Dec 2016.
  10. ^ Bridgman, Leonard, ed. (1956). Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1956–57. London: Jane's all the World's Aircraft Publishing Co. Ltd. p. 342.