Fuel Savings Initiative takes flight Published March 19, 2014 By 2nd Lt. Ava Margerison 82nd Training Wing Public Affairs SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- The Fuel Savings Initiative team from the 80th Flying Training Wing is making significant strides in their efforts to reduce the amount of fuel used in aircraft training. The team performed a series of tests March 10 and 11 to potentially save pilot training bases a significant amount of money flying the T-6A Texan II. Data suggests significant cost benefits using lighter fuel loads both for Sheppard and the Air Education Training Command. If successful, Sheppard could potentially save up to $150,000 per year while AETC-wide the results could yield savings ranging to almost $1 million per year. The initiative started with a few seemingly simple questions. "What if, on the beautiful days where we'd landed with large amounts of excess fuel, we could turn back the clock and fly with an amount closer to what we actually needed?" said Capt. Daniel Gruben 89th Flying Training Squadron instructor pilot. The 80th Flying Training Wing operates one of the Air Force's busiest airfields hosting the only internationally manned and managed pilot training school, Euro NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training. Each year the wing produces more than 200 Undergraduate Pilot Training graduates, 150 Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals graduates and 80 Pilot Instructor Training graduates. "It's something that doesn't require any new equipment or any new training at all," Gruben said. "It's potential savings that requires nothing more than us changing our subtle mannerisms every single day". For the Undergraduate Pilot Training program, the primary trainer aircraft consists of the turboprop aircraft T-6A Texan II. Due to the efficiency of the engine, aircrews usually land with much more fuel than needed, said Gruben. By reducing the amount of fuel used in the trainer aircraft, the pilots are able to decrease the overall weight of the trainer. "As an analogy, imagine how a pick-up truck with an empty bed will probably get better gas mileage than one with a bed full of bricks," said Gruben. The test flights included two airplanes in close formation tested at a high altitude and low altitude with varying fuel loads during take-off. "We'll be performing maneuvers that are standard to formation sorties that we do with the students," said Capt. Jamilee Gunnels, 89th Flying Training Squadron instructor pilot. The FSI team has been researching ways to safely reduce the amount of fuel used in the aircraft while maintaining their rigorous student instructor schedule. "Finding a fuel savings solution that can fit the demands of a pilot training base is very difficult, due to the changing nature of weather and student flight demands," said Gruben. Hopefully the team will soon see the fruits of their labor. The data results from these tests are expected to arrive this month.