US Pilots to Test Seoul’s T-50 TrainerA group of U.S. Navy pilots will test-fly South Korea's indigenous supersonic T-50 training jet this week, an event expected to help promote Seoul's efforts to export the high-tech aircraft, Yonhap News reported quoting the Air Force Monday.
The group consists of one instructor, Marine Lt. Col. Roger Cordell, and three trainees from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, it said. They will conduct a total of eight test-flights of the T-50 from Monday through Friday.
The flights are part of an exchange program that will also allow a group of South Korean pilots to test-fly the U.S. Navy's own training aircraft next year, it said.
The event is expected to significantly boost Seoul's efforts to export the aircraft, whose attack variant A-50 is also being developed for both domestic use and export.
"The test-flight of the T-50 by pilots from the U.S. Navy Test Pilot School means the superiority of the T-50 jet and the South Korean Air Force's advanced training program has been recognized by the U.S. Navy," the Air Force said in a press release.
The U.S. test pilots are expected to produce an evaluation report of the T-50 following their flights.
Source
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/11/113_34140.html
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