KT-1 Woongbi
ICAO KT1South Korea's first indigenous aircraft, now an export success. Live KT-1 Woongbi positions.
Flying right now
Live · 30sAirframe
- Manufacturer
- Korea Aerospace Industries
- Role
- Basic training and light attack
- Class
- L1T — Landplane, 1 turboprop engine
- Crew
- 2
- First flight
- 12 December 1991
- In service
- 2000
Operators airborne
About the KT-1 Woongbi
The KT-1 was South Korea's first domestically designed and built aircraft, developed jointly by the Agency for Defense Development and what became Korea Aerospace Industries. It gave the country a starting point that later produced the T-50 supersonic trainer and the KF-21 fighter.
It is a conventional turboprop trainer in the PC-9 and T-6 class, and it has sold better than most people expected — Indonesia, Turkey, Peru and Senegal all fly it, and the armed KA-1 version does light attack and forward air control for the Korean air force.
Indonesian aircraft are the most likely to appear here; the Korean fleet operates in airspace this feed covers poorly.
Callsign prefixes
- ROKAF
- Republic of Korea Air Force
- TNI
- Indonesian Air Force
How to recognise it
- —A low-wing single turboprop with tandem seats under a continuous bubble canopy.
- —A four-blade propeller and a tall, sharply swept fin.
- —Closely comparable in size and outline to a PC-9 or T-6.
Common questions
+ What does Woongbi mean?
It is Korean for "great flight" or "soaring", the name given to the type when it entered Korean service.
+ What is the KA-1?
The armed version, used by the Korean air force for light attack and forward air control, with underwing pylons for rockets, guns and light munitions.
+ Why does the KT-1 matter to Korea?
It was the country's first indigenous aircraft design, and the industrial base it created led directly to the T-50 Golden Eagle and the KF-21 Boramae fighter programme.