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A 'trainer' is a training aircraft used to develop piloting, navigational or weapon-aiming skills in flight crew.
Civilian pilots are normally trained in a light aircraft, with 2 or more seats to allow for student and instructor. The aircraft may be modified to withstand the flight conditions imposed by training flights. Some air forces contract-out training activities to private companies, or arrange for military officers to train using aircraft provided and maintained by a private business.
Typically, contemporary military pilots learn initial flying skills in a light aircraft not dissimilar to civilian training aircraft, then possibly progress to turboprop trainers like the Pilatus PC-9. Those that progress to training for "fast jet" flying will then progress to a jet trainer, typically capable of high subsonic speeds, high-energy manoeuvers, and equipped with systems that simulate modern weapons and surveillance, for more advanced training. Examples of such jet trainer aircraft include the T-38 Talon (actually capable of supersonic speeds), the BAE Hawk, the Alpha Jet and the Aero L-39.
Some military training aircraft are twin-seat versions of combat aircraft types (ground-attack or interceptor) and some of these are capable of rapid conversion in times of emergency to a reconnaissance or combat role. For smaller air forces, such adaptability can have important economic benefits. As with all such weapons systems, this convertibility brings with it certain political risks: for example, the sale of the BAE Hawk to Indonesia in recent years has been highly contentious. ''(see: dual-use technology)''
A minority of military training aircraft, such as the Vickers Varsity, HS125 Dominie or Boeing T-43 were developed from transport designs to train several navigators at the same time. As these navigational trainees are normally learning how to navigate using instruments, they can be seated at consoles within the aircraft cabin and do not require a direct view of the landscape over which the aircraft is flying. The operators of airborne weapons or radar-related systems can be similarly trained, either in training aircraft or in an operational aircraft during training flights.
As the costs of developing aircraft have risen in real terms, it has become much less likely that aircraft will be designed specifically for the training role. Classic training types were the De Havilland Tiger Moth, the North American Texan (Harvard in many countries) and the De Havilland Chipmunk. Some jet trainers, such as the Aermacchi MB-326, Folland Gnat, Fouga Magister and British Aerospace Hawk, have become famous through their use by national formation aerobatic teams. Early jet aerobatic teams tended to use combat types such as the Hawker Hunter, English Electric Lightning, and North American F-100 Super Sabre. As air forces' combat fleets were scaled-down, it made sense for most national display teams to change to lighter training types. A few modifications may be needed to enable coloured smoke to be emitted during displays, but essentially these airframes can still perform their pilot training function.
Much training is now carried out on simulators that can be positioned in buildings on the ground. A different simulator may be required to simulate each specific type of aircraft that the trainee hopes to fly.