page_title: Trainer aircraft
section_title: Historical
hierarchical_section_title: Trainer aircraft / Historical
caption_attribution_description: English: Morane rouleur Issoudun Field 1 1918
context_page_description: A trainer is a class of aircraft designed specifically to facilitate flight training of pilots and aircrews. The use of a dedicated trainer aircraft with additional safety features—such as tandem flight controls, forgiving flight characteristics and a simplified cockpit arrangement—allows pilots-in-training to safely advance their real-time piloting, navigation and warfighting skills without the danger of overextending their abilities alone in a fully featured aircraft.
  Civilian pilots are normally trained in a light aircraft, with two or more seats to allow for a student and instructor. The aircraft may be modified to withstand the flight conditions imposed by training flights.
context_section_description: Early trainers were often sport aircraft or obsolete combat aircraft. The French used a graduated system in which a pilot learned in progressively more capable aircraft, starting with aircraft that had been modified to prevent them from flying – called rouleurs or penguins.
  Pilots who had mastered ground handling would then graduate to lower powered two seaters, before finishing on obsolete fighters. The supply of obsolete aircraft proved inadequate and production of Caudron G.III, Nieuport 83 and other types specifically for training was undertaken.
  In the United Kingdom, a different training system was used, although it too started out with obsolete aircraft before the Avro 504 and Airco DH.6 became the primary trainers, supplemented until the end of the First World War with obsolete combat aircraft for advanced training. To train the many potential aviators coming from Canada and the US, the Royal Flying Corps Canada was set up, operating Curtiss JN-4 (Can) trainers until the United States began its own training program, using Curtiss JN-4s and Standard J-1s. In Germany, various obsolete two seaters were produced for training purposes, the most numerous being the Albatros C.III.
  Between the World Wars, purpose built trainers covering a variety of specialties largely replaced obsolete types in the Western armed forces, including aircraft specifically for bombing and gunnery and navigational training. When Germany began rearming in the 1930s, many of the initial aircraft were designed with a dual role, so that when they were obsolete in their combat role they would be used as trainers. By WW2 however their needs exceeded what could be spared from production and although using a number of purpose built designs such as the Bücker Bü 131, relied largely on captured aircraft and obsolete combat types.
  The United States armed forces standardized on three types – a Primary trainer, of which the Stearman PT-13/PT-17 is the best known, a Basic trainer such as the Vultee BT-13, and an advanced trainer such as the well known North American AT-6 Texan, which would also be widely exported to the Commonwealth countries as the Harvard. In addition, production of various combat types was diverted to training although considerable effort was made to cover all possible types of training with purpose built types.
  The British organized the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, which moved the bulk of aircrew training away from active war zones to Canada and elsewhere, where pilots started on the De Havilland Tiger Moth or Fleet Finch basic trainers before continuing on North American Harvards for advanced training, Avro Ansons, Airspeed Oxfords and Bristol Bolingbrokes for multi-engine as well as bombing training. Obsolete types such as the Fairey Battle and Westland Lysander were used for target towing, while other types such as the North American Yale were used for wireless operator (radio) training.
  Postwar, the United States operated the Beechcraft T-34 Mentor for basic flight training, while the United Kingdom operated the De Havilland Chipmunk. The North American T-28 Trojan was replaced the T-6 in US service, while the Percival Provost filled a similar role with the RAF.
caption: Morane-Saulnier P rouleur or penguin trainer in France during WW1 showing cut down wings
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