JORGE A. DIETSCH MEMORIAL COLLECTION
No. 6482. Slingsby T67M260 T-3A Firefly (N31728 c/n 2196) US Air Force
Photographed at Minter Field, Shafter, California, USA, April 25, 1997, by Jorge Dietsch

Slingsby T67M260 T-3A Firefly

05/31/2007. Remarks by Johan Visschedijk: "The original T67A Firefly was the French Fournier RF-6B-100 Club (of 1974 origin) built under license, and the first Slingsby built aircraft (G-BIOW c/n 1988) flew on May 15, 1981. The prototype of the T67M was a converted T67A (G-BJNG c/n 1993), the first production aircraft, a T67M160 (G-BKAM c/n 1999) was first flown December 5, 1982. Under the designation T67M Firefly Mk.2 and powered by an 160 hp Textron Lycoming AEIO-320-D1B four-cylinder horizontally-opposed piston engine, this type is used to train RAF and RN pilots.

The T-3A was based on the T67M260 powered by a 260 hp Textron Lycoming AEIO-540-D4A5 six-cylinder horizontally-opposed piston engine. Selected by the USAF for the Enhanced Flight Screener (EFS) program in April 1992, the first of 113 T-3As, registered G-BYAL (became 92-0626/N3154Z) flew on July 4, 1993 at Kirbymoorside, North Yorkshire, UK, where the first few were built. The remaining aircraft were assembled by Northrop at Hondo, Texas, USA from Slingsby produced kits, with the last delivered to the USAF in 1995.

Ordered under USAF serials 92-0625 to 92-0662, 93-0555 to 93-0596 and 94-0001 to 94-0033 all aircraft were registered on the FAA Registry, the pictured aircraft was 93-0592. Than disaster struck: in three successive years (1995-1997) three Class A mishaps attributed to spin recovery procedures and engine malfunction, causing the loss of six lives. In July 1997 the entire fleet was grounded and the EFS program came to a halt. Subsequently the aircraft were stored and by September 2006 all were scrapped."


Created May 31, 2007