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| T-41 Mescalero |
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| Role | Primary Pilot Trainer |
| Crew | 1 or 2 |
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| Length | 26.92 ft | 8.21 m |
| Wingspan | 35.83 ft | 10.92 m |
| Height | 8.83 ft | 2.69 m |
| Wing area | 159 ft² | 14.77 m² |
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| Empty | 1,363 lb | 618 kg |
| Loaded | 2,300 lb | 1,043 kg |
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| Engines | One Continental IO-360-D (C variant) |
| Power | 210 hp | 160 kW |
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| Maximum speed | 144 mph | 232 km/h |
| Combat range | 720 mi | 1,158.7 km |
| Service ceiling | 17,000 ft (C) | 5,180 m |
| Rate of climb | 880 ft/min (C) | 268 m/min |
The is a military version of the popular
Cessna 172 used by the
United States Air Force and the
United States Army as a pilot training aircraft.
In
1964 , the Air Force decided to use the off-the-shelf Cessna 172 as a preliminary flight screener for pilot candidates and ordered 237 s from
Cessna . The '''T-41B''' was the US Army version. In
1968 , the Air Force acquired 52 more powerful '''T-41C'''s for use at the
Air Force Academy in
Colorado Springs .
In
1996 , the aircraft were further upgraded to the , which included an upgrade in avionics.
Beginning in
1993 , the United States Air Force replaced much of the T-41 fleet with the
Slingsby T-3A Firefly for the flight screening role until the T-3A fleet was indefinitely grounded in
1997 following a series of fatal accidents at the United States Air Force Academy.
