T41 Aircraft - It doesn't show any tendency to drop a wing in either direction at whatever configuration I try and displays excellent manners throughout the (albeit brief) slow-speed examination. The tried and trusted stall recovery technique of pushing the nose forward and adding power instantly places the aircraft back into flying mode.
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T41 Aircraft
Accompanying me on this trip is Steve Mays, one of the Cactus Air Force's small band of pilots. Leaving the comfort of air-conditioning, we walked out into the Nevada heat and towards the aircraft on the ramp.
Cockpit Configuration And Startup
With its brown, white and dayglo-orange colors it certainly stands out from the other Cessna aircraft. A more powerful version, designated T-41C, is used for cadet flight training at the United States Air Force Academy. The Air Force Academy acquired the T-41C in 1968 for use in its pilot indoctrination program, which allows cadets to experience aerial environment principles learned in other academic courses.
Cadets in the program fly approximately 21.2 hours dual and solo, and receive their first US Air Force flight check. In 1968 and 1969 the USAF Academy acquired 52 T-41Cs, with more powerful engines, for cadet flight training.
The T-41 program was consolidated Air Force-wide at Hondo, Texas, in 1973. I take the aircraft up to 8,000 feet and set it up for a clean, power-off stall where it replicates the 172's anticipated docility.
The buffet is felt at around 55 mph and the nose drops at 52 mph. With flaps, the effect is much the same while the nose drop occurs at around 48 mph. However, when I add power to the exercise, the nose drop is much faster.
Evolution Of The
I didn't expect that! We climb aboard, me in the left seat and Mays in the right. The panel layout is slightly different from what I had been expecting: much of the old military equipment has been removed and replaced with a relatively modern kit, particularly in the central radio stack.
The aircraft also has a two-position auxiliary fuel pump switch. "Low" operates the pump at low speed and is used during priming and starting the engine, while "High" is used for engine operations if the engine-driven pump should fail and for vapor purging during hot engine starts.
Along with Reims-built aircraft, Cessna 172s have been delivered to the armed forces of 30 countries including Angola, Bolivia, Chile, Columbia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Indonesia, Ireland, South Korea, Liberia , Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, and Turkey.
Keith Wilson has been an aerospace journalist since 1982. He specializes in striking air-to-air images and is the lead photographer for Pilot magazine, published in the United Kingdom. Over the years he has undertaken a variety of military assignments and also serves as an aviation consultant.
Examining Nz
To date, he has photographed almost 2,000 different aircraft air-to-air. Wilson has held a PPL for 35 years and is an LAA-approved pilot who has made a number of "first flights" on homebuilt aircraft. Send questions or comments to .
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Later 172 versions incorporated a revised landing gear and a swept-back tailfin, both of which are still in use today. The final aesthetic development (dating from the mid-1960s) was a lowered rear deck allowing an aft window.
Cessna creatively advertised this added rear visibility as “Omni-Vision.” There cannot be many readers who haven't flown a Cessna 172, are there? Many flying clubs—certainly those in the United Kingdom and Europe—offer them to their club members.
A Staple Of The Armed Forces
Most if not all of these aircraft have been around the block a few times. I often wonder just where the Cessna 172 with the highest airframe hours is located, and how many different engines may have powered it during its life.
The subject of this flight test, N9274Z, was manufactured in 1967 as a T-41B as 67-15218, where it was utilized for basic evaluation of U.S. Army flight students as well as a liaison and general hack.
The procedure involves moving the throttle halfway, setting the mixture to idle cutoff and turning off the auxiliary fuel pump. Once the engine starts to fire, the pilot can move the mixture to full rich and the throttle to idle.
The T-41B is of historical significance to the Cactus Air Force. In addition to being a good static display item with its own story to tell, it provides the CAF with a great hack, and is especially supportive when the CAF moves its fleet of aircraft around the various shows across the United States.
The Cactus Air Force
The aircraft slows relatively easily but in order to ensure we are below the flap limiting speed of 100 mph, I pull the nose up and the speed bleeds off quickly. I go straight to 20 degrees and trim accordingly.
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The view over the nose is classic 172. Turning base, and satisfied that I will make the runway, I drop all 40 degrees of flap and re-trim. The retarding impact of 40 degrees of flap can be felt immediately, and I add a trickle of power to ensure I don't get behind the aircraft.
Once again, it provides a great view of a steep, final approach. I cross the numbers at around 55 mph and touch down on the mains with the nose held off. As the speed further decreases the nosewheel gently lowers onto the runway.
T-A/C Mescalero
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The panel features the familiar 1960s-style electric flap actuation switch and indicator with up to 40 degrees of flap available. The throttle area is definitely different as in addition to the anticipated throttle and mixture control, it features the variable-pitch prop controller.
Engine start would have been typical for an injected IO-360, however, the aircraft had recently returned from the air-to-air photo shoot. This fact, combined with an OAT around 85 degrees F, means I have to try the hot-start routine.
I was surprised to learn that the T-41B has the same capacity fuel tanks in the wing as a standard 172. With the increased full burn of the IO-360, range is reduced to around 500 miles—but the T-41B was used
Getting Airborne
in the training role by both the U.S. Air Force and Army and rarely flew too far away from its home base. The Keywords field is ideal for searching for such specifics as aircraft registrations, photographers' names, specific airport/city names, specific paint schemes (i.e. 'Wunala Dreaming'), etc. To use the Keywords field, begin by selecting a Keyworld search field.
You may select either a specific database field (airline, aircraft, etc.), or choose to match your keyword to all database fields. When delivered to the U.S. Army in 1967, this aircraft was fitted with a C-1611C Interphone, an AN/ARC-54 Nav/Com radio, an RT-515R-1 Nav/Com radio and an AN/ARN-63 ADF along with a variety of course
and bearing indicators. These were all installed on the far right side of the cockpit; all have since been removed in an upgrade, leaving a large empty space. Reference herein to any specific commercial products by trade name, trademark,
manufacturer, or otherwise, is not meant to imply or suggest anything endorsement by, or affiliation with that manufacturer or supplier. All trade names, trademarks and manufacturer names are the property of theirs respective owners. The first 170 T-41As were ordered in 1964, and
additional 34 were ordered in 1967. Beginning in August 1965 the propeller-driven Cessna T-41 Mescalero provided 30 hours of what was, for many pilots, their first flights. Most went into service at various civilian contract flight schools, each located near one of the Air Training Command's Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT) bases.
In 1968 and 1969 the USAF Academy acquired 52 T-41Cs, with more powerful engines, for cadet flight training. The T-41 program was consolidated Air Force-wide at Hondo, Texas, in 1973. The Air Force began replacing the T-41 with a more advanced aircraft capable of aerobatics beginning in 1993.
Initially I leveled off at 7,000 feet, and then started to adjust the power settings in accordance with the placard located in the center of the instrument panel: power to 21 inches, rpm to 2,400 and the mixture to a little under 11 gph.
Once established in the climb at 95 mph and 500 feet above the field, I reduce the power to 25 inches (at the top of the green arc) and the rpm to 2,600; both actions are designed to minimize engine wear.
The mixture is adjusted to around 13 gph and we steadily climb at around 700 fpm—pretty good, considering the density altitude. At the time of my visit, most of the above were in flying condition. In addition to a large number of airframes held in storage, the museum has an F-86E Sabre, a T-33 and a HU-16 Albatross all undergoing rebuilding to a flyable status.
Way back in July 1964, a military version of the Cessna 172 was procured by the U.S. Air Force for initial flight screening of potential pilots. Two-hundred and four aircraft were purchased "off the shelf" as the T-41A Mescalero.
He adds that the use of 20 degrees of flap will reduce the distance over an obstacle by around five percent. Liftoff with 20 degrees should occur at 60 mph, but you need to get the nose down quickly and allow the aircraft to accelerate to a safe climb speed.
Later, when I got my nose into the detailed U.S. Army Operator's Manual from October 1974, I realize that many of the original military communications antennae have also been removed from the aircraft and replaced with a pair of civilian VOR antennae.
An interesting note in the pilot handbook states, "Exit from the airplane should be accomplished immediately after the doors are jettisoned as the doors could possibly damage the empennage control surfaces causing unpredictable maneuvers and therefore making it difficult to bail out."
I wasn't expecting that, but as a military aircraft, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. Let me immediately nail my Cessna 172 colors to the mast: soon after obtaining my PPL in the UK, I acquired a 1968 Cessna 172H powered by the smooth, quiet—if occasionally lacking in grunt—145 hp Rolls-Royce Continental O-300.
I was proud of the small Rolls-Royce stickers that adorned either side of the cowlings; it announced the quality engineering hidden under there. My own Cessna 172—G-CCCC—also had 40 degree flaps, but I was advised only to use them when I was sure I could land, as a go-around was not an option.
I asked Mays about the T-41B and he told me about some trials they conducted with the aircraft in the 40-degree flap configuration soon after CAF got the aircraft back into the air. All countries represented in our database are included in this selection menu, which is updated automatically as the database grows.
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