Thunderstorm Damage Sets Back Air Force Flight Training
Air Force officials say their already-challenged basic flight training program has been set back by a destructive thunderstorm that heavily damaged 12 T-6 Texan II trainers at Vance Air Force…

Air Force officials say their already-challenged basic flight training program has been set back by a destructive thunderstorm that heavily damaged 12 T-6 Texan II trainers at Vance Air Force Base in Oklahoma July 20. Because of the power of the storm, which had wind gusts of up to 70 MPH, all the remaining 87 T-6s in the unit have to be thoroughly inspected for structural damage and for debris in the engines and other parts of the aircraft.
Full operations won't resume until Aug. 4, and that will put a dent in the effort to graduate 1,500 basic students this year. Since it's the first step in a years-long training program to create combat-ready pilots, the hiccup will ripple through the Air Force for years to come. “The pilot training pipeline has been impacted by this storm, and officials are discussing how to make up for the time lost to meet production numbers,” Vance spokesperson Tech. Sgt. James Bolinger said. Vance is also home to T-1 Jayhawks and T-38 Talons but only the Texan IIs were damaged by the storm.
