Tag Archives: t-38

Florida Talons over Idaho Mountains

Image October 12, 2022 Hutchins AAron

U.S. Air Force photo by Technical Sergeant Betty R. Chevalier, 14SEP2022.

Is Winter coming early in the Northern Hemisphere? In September 2022, Talons from Atlantic Southeast Florida decided to migrate to Pacific Northwest Idaho.

U.S. Air Force photo by Technical Sergeant Betty R. Chevalier, 12SEP2022.

The U.S. Air Force’s (USAF) 2d Fighter Training Squadron is based on Tyndall Air Force Base (AFB), in Florida. From the 12th through to the 23rd, of September, the 3rd Generation T-38 Talons flew around Idaho, helping the USAF teach its youngest bird, the 5th Generation F-35A Lightning-2 (which had also flown north from Luke AFB, Arizona), how to fly.

USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Betty R. Chevalier, 12SEP2022.

The airspace over Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, is known as Gunfighter Country. USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Betty R. Chevalier, 16SEP2022.

USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Betty R. Chevalier, 14SEP2022.

According to Captain Ryan ‘Joker’ McCooey, of the 61st Fighter Squadron’s B-Flight, the training over Mountain Home AFB is the final schooling of a long F-35 program taught mainly on Luke AFB: “At the end of their six-to-eight month basic course, students put together all the building blocks we have taught them throughout the course into these Capstone rides where they do both air-to-air and air-to-ground [tactics] during the same sortie. They get to practice all the things we taught them in a large force exercise, integrating with different assets that we don’t always have the ability to do at Luke.”

USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Betty R. Chevalier, 16SEP2022.

Final F-35 training is usually done over Mountain Home AFB, against the F-15E Strike Eagle, but I believe this is the first time the T-38 Talon was involved.

USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Betty R. Chevalier, 12SEP2022.

While over Idaho, the Florida Talons play the ‘bad guy’ (Red Air) against the Arizona Lightning-2s. Playing the bad guy has been the forte of the T-38 trainer for decades, all the way back to the days of the non-declared, non-official, Cold War.

USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Betty R. Chevalier, 12SEP2022.

USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Betty R. Chevalier, 13SEP2022.

While launching from Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, the T-38 Talons helped qualify six F-35A pilots, and help upgrade the qualifications of four other pilots to instructor status.

3rd generation T-38 and a 5th Generation F-35A. USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Betty R. Chevalier, 16SEP2022.

USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Betty R. Chevalier, 13SEP2022.

The concept of aircraft generations was started by U.S. air historian Richard P. Hallion, back in the 1990s, but it wasn’t until Russia adopted the concept that it became standard in the United States (apparently it was Russia who first referred to the USAF F-22 Raptor as a 5th Generation fighter).

USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Betty R. Chevalier, 12SEP2022.

In April 2019, the Northrop T-38 Talon celebrated 60 years of service!

USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Betty R. Chevalier, 13SEP2022.

MORE T-38 HERITAGE PAINT JOBS

IDAHO INVADED BY APACHES FROM ARIZONA & SINGAPORE?

Kit Bashing, Technology

Vehicle I-D: More T-38 Heritage paint jobs

Video September 25, 2022 Hutchins AAron

U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Nicholas Larsen, 05MAY2022.

T-38 with 80th Anniversary logo on its tail, Laughlin Air Force Base (AFB), Texas, 05MAY2022.

USAF photo by Senior Airman Nicholas Larsen, 05MAY2022.

USAF photo by Airman Kailee Reynolds, 03FEB2022.

87th Flying Training Squadron (FTS) heritage trainer on Laughlin AFB, Texas, 03FEB2022.

USAF photo by Airman Kailee Reynolds, 03FEB2022.

USAF photo by William R. Lewis, 24SEP2021.

On Nellis AFB, Nevada, September 2021.

USAF photo by Airman First Class David Phaff, 24MAY2021.

On Laughlin AFB, Texas, May 2021.

USAF video, by Airman First Class David Phaff, of 87-FTS T-38 Talon over Corpus Christi, Texas, 02MAY2021:

USAF photo by Senior Airman Cameron Schultz, 09APR2021.

5th FTS ‘heritage’ T-38C Talon over Oklahoma, April 2021.

USAF photo by Senior Airman Cameron Schultz, 09APR2021.

USAF photo by Senior Airman Jake Jacobsen, 15JUL2020.

T-38 Talon of the 50th Flying Training Squadron (FTS), 14th Fighter Training Wing (FTW), Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi, 15JUL2020.

USAF photo by Senior Airman Jake Jacobsen, 15JUL2020.

USAF photo by Senior Airman Keifer Bowes, 17AUG2017.

87th FTS centennial flag ship, Laughlin AFB, Texas, August 2017.

USAF photo by Senior Airman Keifer Bowes, 17AUG2017.

T-38 Talon:

U.S. Air Force photo by Tom Hill.

OLD SKOOL TALON TESTS NEW-TECH GLOBAL INFORMATION DOMINANCE EXPERIMENT

PACER CLASSIC-3

25TH FTS HERITAGE

REPAIRING 1/1 SCALE T-38 TALON

F-106, TEST-BED FOR T-38 ENGINES

Technology

Old skool Talon tests new-tech Global Information Dominance Experiment

Video July 20, 2021 Hutchins AAron

The first flight of a T-38 Talon was in 1959, it is still in use, and even testing the latest in military artificial intelligence designed to control all electronic systems, globally.

U.S. Air Force photo by Tom Hill, 15JUL2021.

During the first half of July 2021, U.S. Northern Command (NorthCom) and North American Aerospace Defense Command (aka Nor-ad) conducted what they call a Global Information Dominance Experiment (GIDE-3), part of an Architecture Demonstration and Evaluation (ADE-5).

USAF photo by Tom Hill.

The GIDE-3 included T-38 Talons flown by the 586th Flight Test Squadron. The GIDE-3/ADE-5 flights were launched from Alpena Combat Training Center, Michigan.

USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Devin M. Rumbaugh, 16JUL2021.

USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Devin M. Rumbaugh.

U.S. Air Force (USAF) video by Technical Sergeant Amy Picard and Staff Sergeant Devin M. Rumbaugh:

USAF photo by Tom Hill.

USAF video by Tom Hill:

USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Devin M. Rumbaugh, 16JUL2021.

USAF video by Senior Airman Frank Rohrig, T-38 take-off:

USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Devin M. Rumbaugh, 16JUL2021.

Vehicle I-D:

T-38 PACER CLASSIC-3

RED HAWK REPLACES TALON

T-38 25TH FTS HERITAGE

Gate Guard: REPAIRING 1/1 SCALE T-38 TALON

Hi-tech fail: USAF USES WW2 AIRCRAFT TO DEVELOP MODERN DRONE TECH!

GERMANY STILL TRAINS UP OLD-SKOOL CAVALRY!

CLIMATE CHANGE is the BIGGEST THREAT TO BILLION DOLLAR WEAPON SYSTEMS!

USN ADMITS HI-TECH MILITARY GEAR DEFEATED BY MOTHER EARTH’S TINY SEA CREATURES!

Technology

Vehicle I-D: Red Hawk replaces Talon, another example of foreigners controlling U.S. taxpayers

Video March 1, 2021 Hutchins AAron

The Boeing and Saab (of Sweden) T-7A Red Hawk is the new advanced trainer for the U.S. Air Force (USAF).

Boeing photo.

In September 2018, it was announced that a contract worth $9.2-billion was given to Boeing-Saab for their T-X (Boeing-T-X) training aircraft (first flying in December 2016), to replace the vintage T-38 Talon.

Boeing photo.

Boeing T-X first flight, cockpit view, 20DEC2016:

Boeing photo.

The two B-T-X prototypes fly over Saint Louis, Missouri, April 2017.

The T-7A is more in-line with prepping pilots to fly the F-35. In May 2019, Saab announced it would build a Red Hawk factory in the U.S. state of Indiana.

Video, Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) flight test over Saint Louis, Missouri, July 2019:

On 23FEB2021, Boeing published this video claiming production was underway at its Saint Louis, Missouri, factory:

Boeing photo.

The USAF wants 351 T-7A Red Hawks (name chosen in September 2019), 46 simulators, and associated ground equipment, with the first Red Hawks arriving on base sometime in 2023-24.

Boeing: T-7A Red Hawk

Saab: T-7A Red Hawk

Vehicle I-D: T-38 PACER CLASSIC-3

USAF F-35A “COMBAT READY” IN UTAH

TAXPAYER PARIAH F-35 CALLS IDAHO HOME!

APACHE TO MUSTANG

Technology

Vehicle I-D: T-38 Pacer Classic-3

Video March 1, 2021 Hutchins AAron

U.S. Air Force photo by Airman First Class Stormy Archer, 31JUL2015.

The first completed T-38 Talon from the Pacer Classic III program was unveiled 31JUL2015, at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas.

USAF photo by Airman First Class Stormy Archer, 31JUL2015.

Pacer Classic III (PC-3), the largest single structural modification ever undertaken on the T-38C aircraft, is intended to ensure structural airworthiness of 150 aircraft until 2029.

USAF photo by Airman First Class Stormy Archer, 31JUL2015.

“We are replacing 185 separate primary structures such as longerons, bulkheads, skins and former assemblies; inspecting and assessing the life of a 155 additional components, and repairing or replacing hundreds of other parts.”-Joe Lopez, 575th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron (AMXS) director

USAF photo by Alex R. Lloyd.

USAF photo by Alex R. Lloyd.

USAF photo by Alex R. Lloyd.

The ‘tiger stripes’ will go away when the Talon gets a new paint-job.

USAF photo by Alex R. Lloyd.

USAF video report, by Sean Schroeder, explaining the PC-3 program:

Vehicle I-D: T-38 25TH FTS HERITAGE

Kit Bashing, Technology

Vehicle I-D: T-38 25th FTS Heritage

Video February 28, 2021 Hutchins AAron

Towards the end of 2019, the 25th Flying Training Squadron (FTS) at Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma, painted one of their T-38 Talons in the pre-World War Two colors of the U.S. Army Air Corps.

U.S. Air Force photos by Senior Airman Octavius Thompson.

Video by Senior Airman Octavius Thompson, flight over Enid, Oklahoma, 09DEC2019:

Video, cockpit view, May 2020 pandemic panic-attack morale flight over Oklahoma:

USAF photo by Senior Airman Taylor Crul, 18SEP2020.

The 25th FTS is part of the 71st Flying Training Wing, which got permission to paint one aircraft from each of its squadrons in a ‘heritage’ color scheme.

Vehicle I-D: ANOTHER A-10C WITH INVASION STRIPES

D-DAY F-15E STRIKE EAGLE

HERITAGE SABER & MIG FIGHT IT OUT…OVER SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA?

Kit Bashing, Technology, U.S.

Repairing 1/1 scale T-38 Talon and other Whiteman Gate Guards (and a reduced scale B-2 bomber)

Video June 28, 2019 Hutchins AAron

U.S. Air Force photo by Airman First Class Parker J. McCauley, 18JUN2019.

During the middle of June, 2019, 509th Maintenance Squadron ‘low-observable maintenance’ Airmen began work to restore Whiteman Air Force Base’s (in Missouri) T-38 gate guard named Spirit of Heartland.

USAF photo by Airman First Class Parker J. McCauley, 18JUN2019.

USAF photo by Airman First Class Parker J. McCauley, 06AUG2019.

The T-38 is one of several 509th Bomb Wing static displays on base which also includes the B-29 Superfortress, B-47 Stratojet, B-52 Stratofortress and the FB-111A Aardvark.

USAF photo by Airman First Class Parker J. McCauley, 06AUG2019.

In May 2018, the B-29 The Great Artiste was restored. According to the official report “…the original aircraft was lost during a crash landing at Goose Bay Air Base, in Labrador, Canada, in 1949. So, another B-29 was painted as a replica for static display. The static display was eventually moved to Whiteman AFB from Pease AFB when the New Hampshire base closed in 1991.”

USAF photo by Airman Michaela Slanchik, 10AUG2017.

In August 2017, a reduced scale B-2 Spirit was donated by Northrop-Grumman. The B-2 replica weighs 600 pounds and is 22 feet in length compared to the actual B-2’s true length of 172 feet. It is one of 50 donated by Northrop Grumman.

USAF photo by Senior Airman Joel Pfiester, 13SEP2016.

In September 2016, the FB-111A gate guard underwent corrosion prevention painting, some calling it operation Dark Vark.

In 2015, the Missouri Air National Guard 131st Bomb Wing moved to Whiteman AFB, and brought their F-4, F-15 and F-100 gate guards with them. Missouri Air National Guard video by Technical Sergeant Elise Rich, June 2015: