The TG-10 is the military designation for the

Blaník Blaník (Czech: ) is a mountain in the Czech Republic near Louňovice pod Blaníkem. The hill and surrounding area is a Protected areas of the Czech Republic, protected landscape area. The Blaník massif consists of two forested rocky hills, Vel ...

, Super Blaník and Blaník L-33 Solo Czechoslovak

sailplanes A glider or sailplane is a type of glider aircraft used in the leisure activity and sport of gliding (also called soaring). This unpowered aircraft can use naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to gain altitude. Sailpla ...

used for basic flight training at the

United States Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academies, United States service academy in Air Force Academy, Colorado, Air Force Academy Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Colorado Springs. I ...

. The academy maintained an inventory of 21 TG-10s, in these three variants, until 2012. The aircraft were flown by cadets and officers of the 94th Flying Training Squadron,

306th Flying Training Group The 306th Flying Training Group (306 FTG) is a unit of the United States Air Force, assigned to Air Education and Training Command (AETC). The group is stationed at the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) near Colorado Springs, Colorado. T ...

Nineteenth Air Force The Nineteenth Air Force (19 AF) is an active Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force. During the Cold War it was a component of Tactical Air Command, with a mission of command and control over deployed USAF forces in support of Unit ...

Air Education and Training Command The Air Education and Training Command (AETC) is one of the nine List of major commands of the United States Air Force, Major Commands (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force (USAF), reporting to Headquarters, United States Air Force. It was esta ...

Variants

All of the TG-10 models are of aluminium

semi-monocoque The term semi-monocoque or semimonocoque refers to a stressed shell structure that is similar to a true monocoque, but which derives at least some of its strength from conventional reinforcement. Semi-monocoque construction is used for, among o ...

construction with fabric-covered control surfaces. All are equipped with full soaring instrument panels (altimeter, airspeed indicator, accelerometer, variometer, vertical velocity indicator, magnetic compass) and feature a full avionics suite (VHF radio, GPS, navigation computer, ELT). TG-10B ''Merlin'':

LET L-23 Super Blaník The LET L-23 Super Blaník is a two-seat, all-metal structure Glider (aircraft), glider with fabric covered control surfaces. The aircraft is primarily used for flight training; its single-seat sister model is the Let L-33 Solo. Design and develop ...

. 12 in inventory. Basic trainer; 2-seat tandem configuration. Used in the academy's ''Soar For All'' Program and for training cadets to become glider instructor pilots. Four of them have been configured for high altitude wave soaring. TG-10C ''Kestrel/"Saber"'': LET L-13AC Blaník. 5 in inventory. Advanced trainer; cockpit and controls are identical to the Merlin making transitions between the two aircraft very seamless. Used for aerobatics and spin training. Slightly heavier with shorter wingspan and conventional tail configuration offers slightly faster dynamic response to control inputs. TG-10D ''Peregrine/"Thunder"'':

Let L-33 Solo The Let L-33 Solo is a Czech shoulder-wing, single-seat, glider, designed by Marian Meciar and Vaclav Zajic, and produced by Let Kunovice. The L-33 first flew in 1992 and remained in production through 2012, supplied as a ready-to-fly aircraft.Ba ...

. 4 in inventory. Advanced trainer; single seater. Cockpit and controls are similar to TG-10B. Used for advanced cross country and wave soaring training. In 2007 the Air Force Academy began retiring the TG-10D sailplanes in favor of the newer high-performance gliders, the

Schempp-Hirth Duo Discus The Schempp-Hirth Duo Discus is a high-performance two-seat glider primarily designed for fast cross-country flying, including gliding competitions. Often, it is used for advanced training. Design and development The Duo Discus replaced the ...

and Discus 2b, designated the TG-15A (tandem two-seater) and TG-15B (single seat). In 2011, the Air Force Academy began retiring its remaining TG-10B and TG-10C gliders. Both variants have been replaced by the TG-16A.

History

The academy used the older, very reliable TG-4 gliders ( Schweizer SGS 2-33) until 2002, when it replaced them with the newer TG-10. Until 2004, sailplane operations were conducted by the 94th Flying Training Squadron under the 34th Operations Group, a unit of the 34th Training Wing,

. In 2004, the 94th as well as other operations units at the academy (98th and 557th) realigned under Air Education and Training Command.

References

External links

TG-10B Merlin fact sheet
U.S. Air Force Academy {{DEFAULTSORT:Blanik Tg-10 2000s Czech military trainer aircraft Glider aircraft TG-10

Variants

History

See also

References

External links