To be a Philippine Air Force pilot is to be first a Mescarelo "driver". Mescarelo is Cessna Model 172 prototype developed as a post-war basic four- seat design aircraft. The company manufactured in the 1950's 36,000 of these models of which 864 were designated as the T-41D Mescarelo Trainer. So successful that 29 air forces in the world uses it as their primary trainer for their candidate air force pilots.
The Philippine Air Force ordered 20 of these models some of which were turned over by the USAF and were assigned to the 101st Primary Pilot Training Squadron codenamed "Layangs" of the 100th Training Wing based at the sprawling Fernando Air Base in Lipa City. They served as the career beginner and primary trainer (ab initio) for Philippine Air Force candidate pilots. Aviation cadets and student officers undergo 50 hours of flight tuition on the T-41 before transitioning to any other aircraft in the inventory of the PAF. The aircraft has a maximum speed of 139 mph and a range with standard fuel tanks with no reserves of 615 miles. It has good stability and forgiving flying qualities that made it an ideal and convenient basic primary trainer up to this present day.
The SF-260 was designed by the Italian company, Stelio Frati. The SF stands for (S)IAI Marchetti , the builder and (F)rati. Certified in April 1966 the aircraft flies for Twenty-seven Air Forces in the world with approximately 1000 examples. Designated as the warrior, it was designed as a light trainer and tactical support aircraft and the Philippine Air Force which utilized both roles recieved 19 SF.260WP as "attack planes" and 27 SF.260MPs as trainers.
Some of the attack versions were later sold and the rest allocated for training. With a maximum speed of 305 kph it has a combat raduis of 92 km. on a single seat armed patrol mission with 5 hours and 35 minutes loiter time. At present, the SIAI-Marchetti SF.260's service the PAF's 102nd Pilot Training Squadron known as the "Musangs" of the 100th Training Wing based in Fernando Air Base in Lipa City.
Although it is a piston single, it flies like a small jet with small wings and speed. Like a jet's wings, the SF-260's are machete thin and perfectly taper in chord and thickness. It is flown from the right seat with your left hand on the throttle and your right hand on the stick; fighter-jock-style if flying alone. The flight instructor’s seat on the left features a separate left-hand power lever and a second set of flight instruments. Intended to introduce pilots to single-seat fighters, it is capable of doing aerobatics with full fuel (tips and mains) and the student and instructor wearing parachutes in dual seats designed to accommodate it. An emergency canopy release levers are at both seating positions. The Philippine Air Force trainers are painted in the universal day-glo colors. The SF-260 is either flying or not, with no hint of mush or slop separating the two. The wing loading, coupled with the geometry of the stabilizing surfaces, gives it a faultless response to turbulence. Many airplanes stay flustered for a second or two after an encounter with bumps, but not with the warrior. It passes instantly, due not to any form of artificial stability augmentation but the superb design of this leading trainer.
When a "Basa" pilot takes its first "hot" seat on the cockpits of the F-5s, S.211's, RT-33's or any other future jet figthers in the air force, he has to "TEE-off" first from the cockpit of the "tee" bird. That's the T-33 "T-Bird", Lockheed's most successful jet trainer ever developed. Approximately 6,750 were built and around 1,000 remain airwothry around the world's air forces today notably in Asia and the America's including the USAF. The T-33 is simply a stretched version of the TF-80 "shooting star".
To the Philippine Air Force the T-33 is historical. When acquired in 1955 under the Military Assistance Program, it took the PAF to the jet age. Since then and still is today, as a tandem two-seat jet trainer, it introduced Filipino "top gun dreamers" the practical lessons of jet driving. Pilots of Sabres, Freedom Figthers, Crusaders, AS-211's, RT-33 and the propeller-driven Broncos have memories to share in the cockpits of the T-Birds.
At present they are assigned ot the 105th Combat Crew Training Squadron operating from the 570th Composite Tactical Wing based in Bautista Air Base in the resort city of Puerto Princesa, Palawan preparing pilots for the F-5s and the OV-10's. It has a speed of 600 mph and a flight endurance of 3.12 hours. Although developed as a trainer, it can also served as a reconnaissance, target drone, anti-shipping, laison, instrument flying, specialized and in Latin American air forces as a close air support and interdiction aircraft. It turned 50 years old in 1998 and with over 40 years of service to the PAF, it is arguably the oldest serving jet aircraft in its inventory. As long as there are Filipino would be "top gun-ners" to come, the T-Bird will always be there until replaced to "tee" them off to the wild blue yonder.
Thank you for bringing up many pilots
On 2 December 1948, Beech flew the model 45 prototype aircraft, a new tandem seat trainer with a conventional single fin and rudder unit based on the structure of the V-tailed Bonanza of which it has 80% commonality. It was to become in 1953 the T-34 Mentor primary air force trainer. It has a maximum speed of 246 mph at 17,000 feet and a range of 814 miles.
Manufactured under licensed from the Canadian Car and Foundry Company and of Fiji, Japan it added hundreds more in production that went on to served in foreign air forces. The Philippine Air Force took delivery of the T-34 under the Fiji factory and from United States surplus and went to serve with the 105th Combat Crew Training Squadron based in Basa Air Base most of which were painted in camouflage. The mentor like most trainers can also be armed with air to surface missiles/rockets, trainable guns and up to 1,200 lbs. of weapons carried under the wing pylons suitable for strike tactical weapons training and for forward air control duties. 20 air forces today has operated the mentor.
The Northrop F-5B is simply the tandem two-seat version of the single-seat F-5A Freedom Figther. Three (3) of these variants service the Philippine Air Force's 6th Tactical Figther Squadron of the 5th Figther Wing based in Basa Air Base when recieved in 1966 providing conversion and continuation training to the PAF's jet pilots mainly the F-5A's. Powerplant and avionics remain similar to that of the single-seat version. It first flew on February 24, 1964. While fully capable of combat duty, this was intended basically for the trainer role and lacks the internal cannon armament of the single-seat F-5A Freedom Figther.
The F-5B is a direct descendant of the T-38 Talon jet trainer. However, despite the visual similarity with the T-38, it is more like an F-5A in its basic structure. The F-5 series has a more powerful engine. It also has a different wing and engine intake. It also has a more robust landing gear than the Talon trainer and is also wired for wing mounted ordnance that is not available in the T-38. Like the F-5A, the F-5B also has the leading edge flaps not found on the dedicated trainer.
The F-5B was designed as a lead in trainer for those going on to the single seat F-5A or other high performance fighters. The major difference other than the extra seat is the lack of any gun armament. This was deemed unnecessary in a lead in trainer. The aircraft quickly found buyers overseas, especially those countries who had already ordered or were building the F-5A. The F-5B also was found to be a very good aggressor aircraft and was still in service with countries who had already retired the single seat F-5A.
The SIAI Marchetti S211 supplied by Aermacchi is a military jet pilot trainer in operation with the air forces of Haiti, the Philippines and Singapore. S211A, the latest high-performance version of the aircraft, has full acrobatic capability and can be armed with a range of weapon systems.
The aircraft provides excellent flight performance in the mission role and in acrobatic demonstrations. With a load factor of +7 to Ð3.5g, a maximum speed of 414 KTAS (knots true air speed) at an altitude of 25,000ft and a rate of climb of 5,100ft per minute, the aircraft provides military pilot training in a true jet environment. The airframe design makes wide use of structural bonding and composite materials, including Kevlar, Nomex and carbon fibre composites.
The cockpit can be equipped with a head-up display (HUD) with a weapon aiming computer (HUDWAC). An environmental control system provides automatic temperature control. The non-ozone depleting vapour cycle for cooling is integrated with the engine bleed air for heating and cockpit pressurisation. The pressurised and air conditioned cabin is fitted with two MK 10 zero zero ejection seats supplied by the UK company Martin Baker. The seat is fitted with an emergency oxygen bottle. The high-pressure gaseous high ressure oxygen system has five hours' endurance.
The avionics suite is fitted to suit customer mission requirements. Typical configurations include a VHF/UFH communications suite and navigation systems, such as an attitude and heading reference system (AHRS), with a horizontal situation indicator, automatic direction finding (ADF), VHF omni-directional radio range and instrument landing system (VOR-ILS), a tactical air navigation system (TACAN) and an air traffic control (ATC) and information friend or foe (IFF) transponder.
The S211A is powered by a JTI 5D-5C Turbofan engine supplied by Pratt & Whitney of Canada. The engine has a bypass ratio of 2.0:1 and the specific fuel consumption is 0.57lb/h/lb. The engine provides a thrust of 3,190lb. The aircraft carries 236 US gallons of fuel internally in the integral wing tank and fuselage bladder cell. A double-ended turbine pump powers the transfer of fuel from wing tank to fuselage tank and to the engine. Refuelling is from a single fill point on the wing either by gravity flow or by an optional pressure refuelling system. Two additional drop tanks can be fitted on the inner hardpoints on the wings, each with a capacity of 270 litres. Maximum speed of the S117A at 25,000ft is 414 knots and dive speed is 400 knots. Rate of climb is 5,100ft per minute.
The day-glo universal painted S-211's serves under the banner of the 103rd Pilot Training Squadron for jet training preparing pilots for high performance jets fighters.