Beechcraft Corp. completed the inaugural flight of the first production AT-6 multimission light aircraft Tuesday morning in Wichita, Kan., as employees, dignitaries and others watched. Pilots Lionel Alford and J.D. O’Malley started the engine, taxied to the runway and took to the skies.
“It is a fantastic airplane to fly,” Alford said after landing. “We call it care-free. You just set up the airplane; you’re ready to go. You fly it. It tells you if there’s something wrong with it. It flies beautifully.”
The company has built two prototypes of the AT-6, a light attack version of the T-6 trainer used to train Navy and Air Force pilots. The test airplanes have logged 1,600 hours of flight time. The airplane flying Tuesday was the first to come down the production line with the trainers.
For the complete story by Molly McMillan of The Wichita Eagle, click here.
Photo by Beechcraft
