EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. - A T-7A Red Hawk, the Air Force’s new trainer aircraft, completed a second round of extreme weather inside the 96th Test Wing’s McKinley Climatic Lab June 17th, 2025.
The Boeing test aircraft endured temperatures ranging from 110 degrees to minus 14 degrees Fahrenheit, cockpit icing as well as 190 mile-per-hour manufactured wind streams. All those weather events were created within the lab’s 55,000 square foot test chamber.
This new round of tests looked to verify the new aircraft’s sustainability in any operational environment.
"Our goal is to ensure the T-7A Red Hawk is fully capable and ready to perform its mission in representative climates. These extreme weather tests are a critical step in achieving that objective." said Mike Keltos, Director of Test & Evaluation for the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s Training Directorate.
Once the lab technicians created extreme environments, Boeing and Air Force air crew performed system operations and engine runs to evaluate the aircraft’s reactions in those scenarios.
For this phase, the Lab set up an icing spray system and wind tunnel. This ground test simulates flight through icing conditions by blowing a cloud of subfreezing temperatures on the aircraft canopy at flight speeds of over 160 knots. This experiment tests whether the pilots have sufficient visibility for flight and landing in extremely cold conditions.
A significant amount of the test schedule was dedicated to preparing the chamber to create these climate situations. McKinley’s lab professionals create, break down, and recreate again each new test environment. Technicians worked continuously to create negative temperatures, incredible wind speeds and a 110-degree desert inside of the hangar in less than a month.
“McKinley Climatic Laboratory maintains quickness and technical proficiency by retaining our own staff of highly experienced welders, machinists, electricians, instrumentation experts, test assembly personnel and refrigeration operators,” said Melissa Tate, the lab’s flight chief. “Our main mission is to support the warfighter and to ensure any environment they encounter in the field; their equipment has already been proven in those extremes.”
With every new aircraft or piece of equipment, the lab crews accommodate and sometimes find new ways to support the specific requirements that may arise. The T-7 was no different. The maintenance and logistics teams ensured things ran like clockwork, according to Tate.
“The T-7A will replace the T-38C, drastically improving training capability for the next generation of fighter and bomber pilots and will better prepare student pilots to advance into fourth and fifth generation fighter and bomber aircraft,” said Keltos.