Northrop's 1-38 Talon This Trainer Can GO, GO GO
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A new supersonic jet trainer, the Northrop T-38 Talon, has been undergoing extensive testing before entering service with USAF. The plane has drawn praise from pilots, mechanics, engineers . rAtoN Northrop's 1-38 Talon This Trainer Can GO, GO GO Ed Mack Miller ROM sunbaked Edwards AFB in California's Through the test period, the plane has drawn praise I Mojave Desert to the snowy winterscape of Malm- from pilots, mechanics, and engineers. They have strom AFB, Mont., to Eglin AFB on Florida's noted its simple maintenance, classic lines, impressive df Coast, Air Force test pilots have in recent months speed, range ( 1,150 miles), ceiling ( 60,000 feet). en getting to know a new supersonic jet that should Among its important features as a trainer are runway- e day become a familiar piece of hardware at USAF level ejection capability and excellent back-seat visi- ses here and abroad. bility for the instructor. The plane is the supersonic T-38 Talon trainer. Fif- The only supersonic trainer adopted by a major air Hi of the Northrop-produced aircraft are currently force and included in its inventory, the T-38 is forty- operation in the far-ranging and intensive test pro- four feet long; twelve feet, ten inches high. Wingspan am. The total present order includes 144 planes, is twenty-five feet, three inches. Power plant is two th further orders expected to follow. Service lightweight, high-thrust General Electric J85-5 after- arming is that the T-38, designed for training in super- burning engines. Performance is comparable to com- ak and high-altitude flight, formation flying, acro- bat aircraft weighing twice as much as T-38 takeoff ties, multijet-engine operations, and night or instru- weight of 11,500 pounds. The T-38 is capable of single- 'nt cross-country flying, will ultimately supplant the engine takeoff, go-around, and landing at maximum ickheed T-33 Tee Bird jet trainer. The plane's high weight with gear and flaps down. Each engine weighs formance and versatility may also suit it to a num- 525 pounds, delivers a maximum of 3,850 pounds of r of other missions. (Continued on following page) FORCE Magazine • March 1961 99 T-38 TALON attention was devoted to avoiding "built-in a that might result from accident-prone electri draulic, and fuel systems. The T-38's rear seat was placed ten inches than the front. The instructor, as one test pilot "will have so much visibility that he will feel The cockpit was put together with simplicity in Everything is in front of the pilot ., and easily r Air Force test pilot Capt. Swart Nelson, high-time pilot with either hand. in T-38, describes the plane's flight characteristics to writer Ed Mack Miller in interview at Edwards AFB, Calif. Fuselage lines on the Talon are charade "coke-bottle" curvature in line with the ar thrust, and has a thrust-to-weight ratio of 7.33 to 1. theory. Wings are placed in the rear section So far the T-38 has been powered by the "Yr fuselage just aft of the engine air scoops. The engine, which is rated at about 2,000 fewer pounds leading-edge wing, with low-drag charade of thrust than the J85 engine which will power the cambered at the front to prevent tip stall. The plane later on. Best cruise with the "Yr is Mach .86. bered nose of the fuselage, which gives the T Both speed and range will increase considerably with distinctive "anteater" or "porpoise" look, allows the "J" engine. Speed capability will be Mach 1.2 and lent visibility while still providing low drag. The mission endurance time better than two hours. Best tural load limit factor of the airplane is better afterburner climb speed of the aircraft is Mach .92. seven Gs. The afterburner can be used for more than twenty The wing is designed to let the plane transiti minutes. supersonic speeds without "tuck" or "pitch." The - Talon leaves ground in test flight at Edwards. Extensive Underbelly view shows T-38 design features including the 1 test program has been conducted at several bases. contoured fuselage, flat afterbody, split between engines. 1 The T-38 is a high-sink-rate aircraft. Power must uses conventional ailerons and rudder. All surfaces be used throughout the normal landing approach, hydraulically powered. The all-movable horizo which makes it an appropriate trainer for supersonic stabilizer is of aluminum-alloy honeycomb with a st aircraft such as the B-58, Century-series fighters, and spar. The vertical stabilizer is a semimonocoque, one- such foreign-built high-performance craft as France's spar structure. Dassault Mirage III jet fighter. The designers believe the T-38's fuel system to Three prime requirements were taken into con- almost goof-proof. The cockpit fuel panel has o sideration in design of the T-38: performance capa- three switches—two "supply," one "cross-feed." Each bility similar to supersonic combat aircraft; flying engine normally receives fuel from its own fuel tanks. qualities consistent with safety requirements for However, a cross-feed connection permits either engine trainer aircraft; and economy of maintenance and to receive fuel from the other supply when necessary. operation. Fuel is carried aft of the cockpits and is normally Safety and maintenance factors designed into the pumped by electrically powered boost pumps. Gravity T-38 are a result of comprehensive study by USAF feed will continue to furnish fuel at altitudes above and Northrop. An effort was made to identify the fre- 30,000 feet. Each system has 300 gallons for a total of quency of failures in jet trainers, where they took 3,880 pounds of fuel. When fuel is down to 300 pounds place, and where most man-hours were put in in in either tank, the pilot gets an indicator light. Test trouble-shooting and maintenance. The components pilots say it's no sweat to go around even when down that seemed to be the weakest were made easiest to to 300 pounds. get at for repair. Emphasis has been on making black Electrical power for the T-38 is supplied by two boxes readily accessible for maintenance. Considerable independent AC systems and a DC system that oh. 100 AIR FORCE Magazine • March 19 41 ir 1 CONTINUED tains power through two transformer-rectifiers in the The T-38's windshield is hinged so that it can be 111AC system. During normal operation, each generator swung up out of the way for facility of cockpit main- carries half the load. If one fails, uninterrupted per- tenance. A pilot bonus: no scratches on the glass. An formance is maintained by automatic switchover of engine can be changed on the T-38 in about twenty affected loads to the other generator. A small twenty- A complete double-engine change should take four-volt battery is also provided for emergency air- about two hours. starts, stand-by instrument-panel lighting, and ground Engine-driven accessories are mounted in the air- starts where no auxiliary power unit is available, frame—not the engine—to provide maximum acces- ,1 The T-38 also has two hydraulic systems, identical sibility. Below and forward of each engine is an inte- 1 in operation but differing in the units they supply. grated power package consisting of a two-speed, systemEach provides half the power required by the automatic-shifting gear box, an AC generator, and a flight controls. The primary "utility" system also sup- hydraulic pump. The engine can be removed from this plies all power needed by the landing gear, the nose- power package almost like unscrewing a light bulb or 1 wheel-steering system, the stability-augmenter, and pulling the cork from a bottle, or the power package 3 the speed brakes. Flaps are electrically driven. If can be removed as a unit through a forward access i either system fails, the other will automatically provide door without removing the engine. Removal or instal- ! adequate flight control power. Even when flamed-out lation of engines is facilitated by a built-in overhead and windmilling, the engines should generate enough track and roller arrangement in the aircraft engine hydraulic power to maintain flight control for glide base itself. and landing. Normal windmill speed is twenty-two One or two men are needed to handle the uni- percent. (Continued on following page) . tructor, student sit in tandem in T-38 cockpit, with Flight line of T-38s at Edwards. Supersonic, twin-engine , ctor behind and ten inches higher than the student. Talons will join the Air Training Command in numbers. (.; _ 81197 , _ ...,„ 81196 I Ecw• a TF-1;sto, 11.•„ia•1411h0 FO4 „te) 81191 Asz,,, ,-1 • 0 it Iffr' SJ,IR FORCE .11 FOI imempl0 T-38 TALON versal-lift trailer and several tubular steel adapters out Air Training Command people and settin that mount on the trailer for support of the engine, ATC program. The category III program, s after-fuselage, wing, or gear-box. Each adapter can the ATC Instructor School at Randolph AF be used for removal and installation of a component, this month, will run for a year. A group of tw for maintenance, inspection, transportation, and stor- students of Randolph's class 62F will be the age. The engine adapter can even be used in a test cell dents trained in the plane about a year from now. as an engine run-up stand. ATC bases currently scheduled to get T-38s fo From a pilot's standpoint, accessibility of cockpit training are Moody, Ga.; Craig, Ala.; Williams, controls is an outstanding feature; no controls are aft Vance, Okla.; Reese, Tex.; and Webb, Tex.