The Fuji T-5 or KM-2Kai is a Japanese turboprop-driven primary
trainer aircraft
A trainer is a class of aircraft designed specifically to facilitate flight training of pilots and aircrews. The use of a dedicated trainer aircraft with additional safety features—such as tandem flight controls, forgiving flight characteristi ...
, which is a development of the earlier
Fuji KM-2. The student and the instructor sit side-by-side.
Design and development
The Fuji T-5 was developed by
Fuji Heavy Industries as a replacement for the piston-engined
Fuji KM-2 (itself a development of the
Beechcraft T-34 Mentor) as a primary trainer for the
Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force
, abbreviated , also simply known as the Japanese Navy, is the maritime warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, tasked with the naval defense of Japan. The JMSDF was formed following the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJ ...
. Fuji refitted a KM-2 with an
Allison Model 250
The Allison Model 250, now known as the Rolls-Royce M250, (US military designations T63 and T703) is a highly successful turboshaft engine family, originally developed by the Allison Engine Company in the early 1960s. The Model 250 has been pro ...
turboprop
A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller.
A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction gearbox, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propelling nozzle. Air enters the intake and is compressed by the compressor. ...
engine in place of the original Lycoming
piston engine
A reciprocating engine, also often known as a piston engine, is typically a heat engine that uses one or more reciprocating pistons to convert high temperature and high pressure into a rotating motion. This article describes the common feat ...
, the resulting KM-2D first flying on 28 June 1984
and being
certified
Certification is the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestation or confirmation of certain characteristics of a ...
on 14 February 1985.
The KM-2Kai is a further development of the KM-2D, with a modernised cockpit with side-by-side seating and a sliding
canopy replacing the original KM-2's car type side doors
(which were retained by the KM-2D
).
The T-5 is an all-metal low-wing cantilever monoplane powered by an Allison 250-B17D turboprop with a three-bladed constant speed propeller. It has a retractable tricycle landing gear with the main gear retracting inwards and nose gear rearwards. The T-5 has an enclosed cabin with a sliding canopy and two side-by-side seats, and dual controls, in the aerobatic version and four seats in pairs in the utility version.
Operational history
The KM-2Kai was ordered by the JMSDF as the T-5 in March
1987,
with deliveries of the KM2-Kai to the Japanese Self Defence Forces beginning in 1988, with a total of 40 being built. The T-5 serves with the 201 Air Training Squadron at
Ozuki Air Field
is a military aerodrome of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force . It is located in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan.
Accidents and incidents
*28 September 2009, Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force
, abbreviated , also simply ...
.
The original KM-2 is no longer in service.
Operators
;
*
Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force
, abbreviated , also simply known as the Japanese Navy, is the maritime warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, tasked with the naval defense of Japan. The JMSDF was formed following the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJ ...
Specifications (T-5)
See also
References
{{JSDF aircraft designations
1980s Japanese military trainer aircraft
Low-wing aircraft
Single-engined tractor aircraft
T-5
Single-engined turboprop aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1984