Description:
The T-37B
Tweet is a
twin-engine jet used for
training joint specialized undergraduate pilot training students in
fundamentals of aircraft handling, and instrument, formation and night
flying.
Features
The twin engines and
flying characteristics of the T-37B give student pilots the feel for
handling the larger, faster T-38 Talon or T-1A Jayhawk later in the
JSUPT. The instructor and student sit side by side for more effective
training. The cockpit has dual controls, ejection seats and a
clamshell-type canopy that can be jettisoned.
The T-37B has a
hydraulically operated speed brake, tricycle landing gear and a
steerable nose wheel. Six rubber-cell, interconnected fuel tanks in
each wing feed the main tank in the fuselage. The T-37B has improved
radio navigational equipment, UHF radio and redesigned instrument
panels.
Students from 12 North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries train in
T-37B's at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas.
Background
The
T-37A made its first flight in 1955 and went into service with the Air
Force in 1956. The T-37B became operational in 1959. All T-37A's were
modified to T-37B standards.
A contract was awarded in August
1989 to Sabreliner Corp. for the T-37B Structural Life Extension
Program. The contract included the design, testing and production of
kits, installed by an U.S. Air Force contract field team, which
modified or replaced critical structural components for the entire
fleet, extending the capability of the T-37.
More than 1,000
T-37s were built, and 419 remain in the U.S. Air Force inventory. All
were repainted in a distinctive dark blue and white to help formation
training and to ease maintenance. |
WEFT Description
-
- WINGS
- ENGINE
- FUSELAGE
- TAIL
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