Shuttle Training Aircraft

Chief among the many changes made to the Gulfstream G-11 for use as a Shuttle Training Aircraft was a highly modified cockpit designed to provide the most realistic approach and landing training possible. All the original controls on the pilot's side of the G-11 were removed and replaced with hardware from the commander's side of the Orbiter's Forward Flight Deck. This included adding switches and panels connected only to simulation computers, replacing the yoke with a joystick, gauges with screens, and more. As the Shuttle Flight Decks were upgraded, the Shuttle Training Aircraft were upgraded as well. On the outside of the craft, the most obvious difference was the addition of thrust reversers to the engines, a modification that allowed the jet aircraft to decelerate like the unpowered Orbiter. The aircraft was on loan from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Huntsville, Alabama · United States