A jet trainer is a

jet aircraft A jet aircraft (or simply jet) is an aircraft (nearly always a fixed-wing aircraft) propelled by jet engines. Whereas the engines in propeller-powered aircraft generally achieve their maximum efficiency at much lower speeds and altitudes, je ...

for use as a trainer, whether for basic or advanced

flight training Flight training is a course of study used when learning to pilot an aircraft. The overall purpose of primary and intermediate flight training is the acquisition and honing of basic airmanship skills. Flight training can be conducted under a str ...

. Jet trainers are either custom designs or modifications of existing aircraft. With the introduction of military jet-powered aircraft towards the end of the World War II it became a requirement to train pilots in the handling of such aircraft.

History

The first generation of trainers in the 1940s were modified from existing designs like the Gloster Meteor and

Lockheed T-33 The Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star (or T-Bird) is an American subsonic jet trainer. It was produced by Lockheed and made its first flight in 1948. The T-33 was developed from the Lockheed P-80/F-80 starting as TP-80C/TF-80C in development, then d ...

but with these were followed by custom training aircraft like the

Aero L-29 Delfín The Aero L-29 Delfín ( en, Dolphin, NATO reporting name: Maya) is a military jet trainer developed and manufactured by Czechoslovakian aviation manufacturer Aero Vodochody. It is the country's first locally designed and constructed jet aircra ...

and the

BAC Jet Provost The BAC Jet Provost is a British jet trainer aircraft that was in use with the Royal Air Force (RAF) from 1955 to 1993. It was originally developed by Hunting Percival from the earlier piston engine-powered Percival Provost basic trainer, and ...

. As training developed different air forces used jet trainers for different phases of training. Although most air forces continued to use piston or later turboprop aircraft for basic training, a number of jet trainers like the

Cessna T-37 Tweet The Cessna T-37 Tweet (designated Model 318 by Cessna) is a small, economical twin-engined jet trainer type which flew for decades as a primary trainer for the United States Air Force (USAF) and in the air forces of several other nations. The T ...

appeared for the early stages of pilot training. Pilots who were picked to fly fighter or strike aircraft then went on to fly more advanced training aircraft like the Hawker Siddeley Gnat. As the early jet-trainers became obsolete then further generations have appeared, the British using the single-engine BAE Systems Hawk while the French ordered the

Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet The Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet is a light attack jet and advanced jet trainer co-manufactured by Dassault Aviation of France and Dornier Flugzeugwerke of Germany. It was developed specifically to perform trainer and light attack missions, a ...

. In the Warsaw Pact the

Aero L-39 Albatros The Aero L-39 Albatros is a high-performance jet trainer designed and produced in Czechoslovakia by Aero Vodochody. It is the most widely used jet trainer in the world; in addition to performing basic and advanced pilot training, it has also fl ...

became the standard jet trainer. As the jet trainer developed it was also used for weapon training, which led to some trainers being modified as light strike aircraft; for example, the

was developed into the

Cessna A-37 Dragonfly The Cessna A-37 Dragonfly, or Super Tweet, is an American light attack aircraft developed from the T-37 Tweet basic trainer in the 1960s and 1970s by Cessna of Wichita, Kansas. The A-37 was introduced during the Vietnam War and remained in pe ...

. Modern jet trainers are structurally strengthened in order to allow high stress maneuvers and aerobatics.

List of jet trainers

Below is a list of some current and former jet trainers Aero L-39 Albatros-001

20171009133407!66-5748 Kawasaki T-4 Sotai Shireibu (cropped)

References

{{Reflist Aircraft by type Trainer aircraft