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Author
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Topic: Tracking history of NASA's T-38 trainers
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Blackarrow
Member Posts: 3797
From: Belfast, United Kingdom
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 04-26-2007 07:15 PM
  
I have a photograph of my (much) younger self leaning against a T-38 jet at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida, in July 1975. The aircraft has a number on the tail, 924. Does anyone know if the aircraft is still in use by NASA? After 32 years that may seem a silly question, but a few Google searches indicate that no new T-38s were built after 1972; and with modifications some should still be flying until 2020. I also found a list of NASA radio frequencies which listed a number of T-38s, including "924." Is there any way to tell what the aircraft has been used for since it was built, and whether it was flown to Patrick Air Force Base by one of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project astronauts in 1975? |
WSTFphoto
Member Posts: 70
From: Las Cruces, NM, USA
Registered: May 2005
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posted 04-27-2007 10:21 AM
Your aircraft is in the background of this 1997 photo of the STS-94 crew. I haven't seen anything more recent. I know that 924 is not one of the T-38s on display at Space Center Houston. There's one on display at the El Plaso, Texas, International Airport (ELP), but I don't know its identity.  |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 53943
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 04-27-2007 04:44 PM
Though it's not 924, NASA JSC recently held a ceremony for the retirement of another T-38, NASA 963: 
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Gordon Reade
Member Posts: 335
From: USA
Registered: Nov 2002
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posted 05-01-2007 10:44 PM
The T-38 went out of production in 1972. Are the Talons currently being flown by NASA the same ones that were used by the astronauts in the 1960s? It would be sort of cool if they were. |
lewarren
Member Posts: 269
From: Houston, TX, USA
Registered: Aug 2001
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posted 05-01-2007 11:01 PM
Indeed, they are the same aircraft. |
Philip
Member Posts: 6302
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 10-02-2019 03:16 AM
The early T-38s flown by NASA astronauts were still in the 1960s orange wingtips and tail US Air Force paint scheme.As of 2019, the T-38 celebrates it 60th anniversary (first flight was in April 1959). |
CMD_OVRD
Member Posts: 82
From: Dallas, TX
Registered: Jul 2009
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posted 10-05-2019 03:13 PM
I got an up close look at some of NASA's T-38s a number of years ago in Houston. The maintenance people there filled me in on some of the extensive upgrades they've had over the years. These include modified engine inlets, larger speed brakes on the bottom of the jet, improved ejection seats, some glass instrumentation (vs the old round cockpit gauges), and even a flight management system (FMS) used for navigation.They've also showed their age a bit. They were having cracks develop along the stringer that ties into the support between the two canopies. This caused them to put a 3g limitation on the jet. I was really impressed by the maintenance folks who have dedicated their careers to keeping these old birds in the air. It reminded me of an old mechanic trying to keep a classic car on the road...one that can do Mach 1. |
benguttery
Member Posts: 553
From: Fort Worth, TX, USA
Registered: Feb 2005
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posted 10-23-2019 06:28 PM
904 is still registered to NASA and on the FAA Registry as N904NA. It originally carried the military serial number 63-8204. Yes, it dates to 1963/1964 timeframe, but was been upgraded several times since then. |
Gordon Eliot Reade
Member Posts: 261
From: California
Registered: Jun 2015
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posted 11-27-2020 08:51 PM
The T-38 is 60 years old and it still looks like the coolest thing with wings. I'd absolute love to fly one. |
dtemple
Member Posts: 787
From: Longview, Texas, USA
Registered: Apr 2000
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posted 07-18-2024 09:06 AM
Is there a record of which two T-38s the Apollo 1 crew flew to Patrick Air Force Base for their fatal plugs out test? If so, do either or both of these aircraft still exist? |
Philip
Member Posts: 6302
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 02-10-2025 10:09 AM
NASA T-38 number 914 was the only NASA Talon jet transported in both two NASA Super Guppy cargo aircraft (NASA 940 and NASA 941).In February 1987, Robert Rivers and astronaut Brewster Shaw made an emergency landing at Los Alamitos after a lightning strike had set the upper fuselage on fire. During transport of T-38 NASA 914 in Super Guppy NASA 940, jet fuel spilled in the cargo bay as the T-38 tanks were not fully drained and purged. The Super Guppy made it to March AFB in Riverside California and NASA 914 was rebuilt and re-used until the summer of 2012. Nowadays T-38 NASA 914 might be a gate guardian somewhere? |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 53943
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 02-10-2025 11:48 AM
According to this 2020 NASA article, after its emergency landing, 914 was "'totaled,' removed from service and put in storage." Three decades later parts of its cockpit ... will find use again not only on the X-59 itself, but in a pair of ground-based simulators and an egress trainer. |
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