Sunday Oct 06, 2024
Remembering the T-38 Talon
Just to the west of the Academy airfield is the Thunderbird Overlook. It contains two interesting static display aircraft: the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt and the Northrop T-38 Talon.
The Thunderbird Overlook was dedicated on June first, 1982, with Secretary of the Air Force Verne Orr in attendance. According to the plaque at the site, the overlook “was created to remind the young men and women of the Air Force Cadet Wing of the pride, professionalism, discipline, dedication and teamwork that a career in the World’s finest Air Force demands!” The Thunderbirds flew the T-38 from 1974 until 1982. The final flight in the T-38 ended in tragedy on January 18, 1982, when four aircraft in the Diamond Formation crashed during training in Nevada, killing all four pilots. This T-38, given to the Academy in 1981 by officials from Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, has the Thunderbirds paint scheme in remembrance of that accident. When the T-Birds resumed flying in April 1983, they were in the F-16, the aircraft they have flown ever since.
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