15th Year Of Service With Naval Air Training Command

This week, Boeing is celebrating a milestone for the T-45 Goshawk, the US Navy's jet trainer aircraft, which this week flew its 800,000th hour in its 15th year of service with the Naval Air Training Command.

The twin-seat, single-engine Goshawk prepares student aviators to transition to front-line Navy and Marine Corps fleet aircraft.

"No one is born an aviator -- you become one," said Capt. Charles "Win" Everett, T-45 program manager for the Navy. "Training in the T-45 is one of the most important steps a future Navy pilot takes. It's a major accomplishment to rack up 800,000 flight- hours, but there will be many more such milestones, because this airplane will be around for a long, long time."

Barbara Wilson, director and program manager for T-45 Training Systems at Boeing, added, "This is a proud day for our 350-member team. We consider it an honor to support naval air training, one of the Navy's most critical missions, and will continue to refine an aircraft that has proven itself reliable, economical and maintainable over its 15 years of service."

The Goshawk is a component of the fully integrated T-45 training system, which comprises high-fidelity instrument and flight simulators, computer-assisted classroom learning, an automated training-management asset and contractor logistics support.

More than 3,000 student aviators from the Navy, Marine Corps and several international militaries have received instruction on the system at naval air stations in Meridian, MS, and Kingsville, TX before earning their coveted "Wings of Gold."

FMI: www.boeing.com/defense-space/military/t45/index.htm