The Temco Model 51 had been initially proposed to the US Air Force in response to an Air Force competition for a jet-powered primary trainer, which was won by the Cessna T-37 Tweet. The concept behind the Model 51 was an attempt to provide primary training in a jet-powered aircraft. The official name for the Model 51 was the Pinto. The Pinto was a mid-wing, tricycle landing gear trainer with an enclosed cockpit powered by a single Continental Motors J69-T-9 jet engine. The aircraft carried no armament. The TT-1s were equipped with many of the same features found in operational jets, including ejection seats, liquid oxygen equipment, speed brakes, along with typical flight controls and instrument panels. Although the flight characteristics were considered good, the "wave off" capability was rated marginal due to being slightly underpowered. After its first flight in 1956, the prototype was sent to the Naval Air Test CenterPatuxent River to be evaluated alongside the Beech Model 73 Jet Mentor. Fourteen of the aircraft, designated TT-1, were produced between 1955 and 1957.
In 1968, American Jet Industries re-engined a TT-1 Pinto. The J69 was replaced with a General Electric CJ610. The modified aircraft, called the T-610 Super Pinto, flew on 28 June 1968. The new engine significantly increased performance, with maximum speed reaching, and AJI marketed the aircraft as a light attack aircraft. The prototype Super Pinto, together with drawings and production rights, were purchased by the Philippine Air Force, which planned to build the aircraft as the T-610 Cali.
Operational history
In 1959, these aircraft served in the Air Training Command at Pensacola, Florida and used in a training program demonstration testing the feasibility of using a jet-powered trainer for primary flight training. By the end of 1960, the TT-1s were phased out of operations in the Naval Air Training Command because performance was deemed insufficient, and sold as surplus.
In December 2016, five of the TT-1 Pinto series still appeared on the U.S. civil roster, down from seven, four of them Super Pintos, in 2011. As of late 2015, one T-610 prototype was still preserved at the Philippine Air Force Museum. As of late 2019, a TT-1 is on static display painted in "Blue Angels" colors at Hefner Furniture and Appliance in Poplar Bluff, MO.
