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The T-50 Golden Eagle successfully completed an historic first flight at the Korea Aerospace Industries facility at Sachon, South Korea, on 20 August. “This is a great day for the T-50 program, the T-50 team and the nation,” said Kil, Hyoung-Bo, president of KAI. “I congratulate the entire team, including the Republic of Korea Air Force, KAI, the rest of the Korean aerospace industry, Lockheed Martin, and our international industry partners. Working in close cooperation, we made this important first flight on schedule. The T-50 is a critical program in Korea’s national goal of developing a world-class aerospace industry.”
The first flight met its goals of checking air-worthiness, basic systems operation, and handling qualities of the aircraft, plus the test instrumentation and telemetry. All systems functioned properly, with no anomalies. “This was a very enjoyable flight,” said Lt. Col. Cho, Gwang-Je, Republic of Korea Air Force test pilot for the historic flight. “The T-50 is very easy to fly. It has excellent stability and control in the takeoff and landing configuration, just as we expected. We completed all of our test objectives for this flight exactly as on the mission plan. I am looking forward to future flights as we expand the flight envelope. If future flights are as successful as this one, we should have a great advanced jet trainer.”
Takeoff and landing were conducted at an airfield adjacent to the KAI plant at Sachon. The first flight lasted thirty-nine minutes. The flight consisted of a military power takeoff and climb to 7,000 feet for preliminary tests and then to 15,000 feet, the maximum altitude for this flight. The landing gear remained down for the entire flight, as planned, and a variety of maneuvers and engine transients were conducted. The maximum speed was about 300 knots. Maximum angle of attack was thirteen degrees. Formation flying was practiced on the wing of an F-16 chase aircraft. The next several flight tests will complete the airworthiness evaluations and then begin the T-50 envelope expansion flight-testing.
The T-50 Golden Eagle is a supersonic advanced jet trainer being developed by KAI for the ROKAF. Lockheed Martin, as principal subcontractor to KAI, is providing technical expertise in all aspects of the program and is responsible for developing the T-50 avionics system, flight control system, and wings. The two companies are cooperatively marketing the T-50 internationally. The T-50 will have the maneuverability, endurance, and modern systems to prepare future pilots to fly current and next-generation fighters, such as the F-16, F-15, F-22, and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. These same characteristics give it an excellent capability as a lead-in fighter trainer and potential light-combat aircraft derivative for many air forces.
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