Problem with Hawk engines should be solved soon

I had not realized the extent of the difficulties caused:

Delays in the NATO Flying Training in Canada jet program could be over as early as September.

The program -- which includes pilots at both 15 Wing Moose Jaw and 4 Wing Cold Lake in Alberta -- operates a fleet of CT-155 Hawk aircraft, the majority of which have been grounded since April pending engine modifications.

Only seven jets -- two in Moose Jaw and five in Cold Lake -- of a possible 19 are currently being flown.

"We should resume normal operations by the end of September," said 15 Wing public affairs officer Capt. Genevieve Mitchell. "We're still sharing resources with Cold Lake."

Engine modifications began in early 2007 to correct a manufacturing problem that was causing shroud rubbing in the low pressure turbine of the Hawk engines, Lt. Paul Finnemore from DND headquarters in Ottawa said in May.

"Modifications were initiated on the Hawk engines because of sufficient multiple instances of low pressure turbine blade loss in flight," he said.

A preliminary report released by the Directorate of Flight Safety in May said a broken turbine blade may have caused an engine malfunction in a Hawk at 15 Wing on April 18.

An instructor and student pilot ejected from that aircraft before it crashed into the end of the runway [photos here].

Although the known engine problem has not been linked to the crash, the Hawk fleet was grounded after the accident as a precautionary measure.

The loss of the use of 12 aircraft has caused delays in the NFTC jet training program, but Mitchell said the school is managing them by allowing students to fly extended hours during the week and on weekends.

"The next (jet) graduation is scheduled for the end of September and the school might be able to make it close to that mark," she said, adding graduation dates are usually set years in advance and changes are expected.

"Those dates are a little bit flexible because they're dependent on weather and aircraft availability."

There are 12 pilots currently training on the Hawk in Moose Jaw. Another seven are expected to start in the next few weeks.

Update: Could this choke-point with Hawks have had anything to do with this pilot program that avoids the Hawk altogether?.

Upperdate: Upon mature reflection, the Update is dumb. Hawks are relevant only to those going on the fighters, not salient to the "pilot program" which involves not training on Harvard IIs.