T-50 Triumphs

The T-50 program is a joint development between Lockheed Martin and Korea Aerospace Industries to meet the advanced jet pilot training needs of the Republic of Korea Air Force. More than 100 aircraft have been built and delivered to the ROKAF. A second variant that is currently in production is the FA-50 light combat aircraft.

Early in 2012 we invited Code One readers and contributors to send us their best photos. We asked for recent, striking photographs of current Lockheed Martin aircraft to develop a “Best of Code One” theme for the 2013 edition of the calendar.

The T-50 is an advanced supersonic trainer. The aircraft is also flown by the Republic of Korea Air Force Aerobatic Demonstration Team, better known as the Black Eagles.

Ten years after the first T-50 rolled out of the Korean Aerospace Industries factory in Sacheon, South Korea, the program has radically improved the way fighter pilots are trained in Korea. Two training squadrons at Gwangju AB operate fifty aircraft and graduate about 140 students per year. The aircraft is also flown by the Black Eagles, the official aerobatic team of the ROKAF.

Ten years after the first T-50 rolled out the Korean Aerospace Industries factory in Sacheon, South Korea, the program has radically improved the way fighter pilots are trained in Korea. Two training squadrons at Gwangju AB operate fifty aircraft and graduate about 140 students per year.

The aerial demonstration team of the Republic of Korea Air Force, the Black Eagles, traded its standard-issue orange and white T-50 trainers for glossy black, white, and yellow T-50Bs for its 2011 show season.

The Black Eagles, the aerobatic team of the Republic of Korea Air Force, exchanged their A-37 light-attack aircraft for T-50 Golden Eagle supersonic trainers for the 2009 air show season.

The T-50 was designed and developed jointly by Lockheed Martin and Korea Aerospace Industries to replace the T-38 and train pilots of fifth generation fighter aircraft. The T-50 is built on the legacy of the venerable F-16 Fighting Falcon and is operational today in the Republic of Korea Air Force

Visitors to Gwangju AB see a training operation in full swing. T-50s populate the ramps and shelters at the 203rd Squadron. The wing expects to have two training squadrons flying a total of fifty Golden Eagles by 2009.

KAI Delivers proclaims the caption beneath a large red and blue yin-yang of the Republic of Korea flag. This symbol, the Taeguk, dresses the ramp separating the production facility from the flight test hangars at Korea Aerospace Industries in Sacheon, South Korea.