Corpus Christi VT28 and VT-35

Corpus Christi VT28 and VT-35 poster art.

The VT-28 ”Rangers“ are a U.S. Navy primary flight training squadron based at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas. (Training aircraft: T-6B Texan II) After 19 years and thousands of Naval Aviators being designated, the T-44A twin-engine turboprop aircraft replaced the TS-2F Tracker. VT-28 continued training advanced multi-engine aviators until 1990 when the Chief of Naval Air Training reassigned the squadron to be responsible for training instructors and updating training syllabus for the T-44A and T-34C Turbo Mentor. Three years later, CNATRA again reassigned VT-28 to be the Navy’s fifth primary training squadron. The TC-12B is the U.S. Navy training version of the Beechcraft C-12 Huron developed by conversion of UC-12B airframes. Training Squadron 35’s (VT-35) primary mission is to provide advanced multi-engine pilot training for Naval and Air Force students who will fly the C-130 Hercules, the C-12 Huron or the P-3 Orion. In addition, VT-35 provides training for Navy aviators going to test pilot school. As of 1999 VT-35 had 23 assigned instructor pilots (12 Air Force, 11 Navy) and 125 students projected for Fiscal Year 2000.