CNAF visits Meridian, talks T-45s

SAN DIEGO - Vice Adm. Mike Shoemaker, Commander of Naval Air Forces (CNAF), visited naval air stations in Meridian, Miss.; Pensacola, Fla.; and Kingsville, Texas, on June 28-29 to introduce Rear Adm. James Bynum, the new Chief of Naval Air Training (CNATRA), and to discuss ways forward for training with the T-45C Goshawks. Vice Adm. Shoemaker announced that instructor pilots will resume flying T-45Cs at the three bases, with the On-Board Oxygen Generator System (OBOGS), beginning in early July. Students are to resume flight training later that month. Rear Adm. Bynum assumed command of CNATRA on June 23. Bynum comes to the aviation training HQ in Corpus Christi, Texas, from duty as Commander of Carrier Strike Group 9. The increase in seniority for the CNATRA flag is meant to improve flight safety, address current instructor concerns and manage the return to student training and production plans. Nearly three months have passed since the Navy grounded its fleet of T-45 training jets due to cockpit oxygen problems. (Source: Naval Air Forces 06/29/17) The Navy recently published its comprehensive review of physiological episodes, such as shortness of breath, that pilots previously experienced due to contaminants in the OBOGS. The system apparently operates better with cooler and drier air. All the other airplanes in the fleet that use OBOGS or systems like it have all have some component in the system that eliminates moisture. So that was missing in the T-45, according to Shoemaker.