Dewey...BoneDriver Posted June 17, 2009 Posted June 17, 2009 Final T-37 Checkrides are today at Sheppard. After this class graduates, there will be about one more month and then July 30th they will fly the last of the jets to the "Boneyard" (AMARG at DM). Large number of you all flew the Tweet, thought you'd want to know...
ASUPilot Posted June 17, 2009 Posted June 17, 2009 Final T-37 Checkrides are today at Sheppard. After this class graduates, there will be about one more month and then July 30th they will fly the last of the jets to the "Boneyard" (AMARG at DM). Large number of you all flew the Tweet, thought you'd want to know... Dewey, Are you going to the T-6 or are you going to return to the Bone a little early? SM
HiFlyer Posted June 17, 2009 Posted June 17, 2009 Its about time. They were old, bent, and sucked big time when I flew them....and that was in 1968. However, they really were great aircraft for their intended purpose, and I think the tandem seating was a nice feature in a basic training aircraft (except when I would screw up bad and the IP would quietly reach over and pinch off my oxygen hose). There were more than a few times as a T-38 IP that I wished I could have gotten my hands on the stud in the other seat!!
Dewey...BoneDriver Posted June 17, 2009 Author Posted June 17, 2009 (edited) Standby for pictures. ASU- T-6 Transition next week (I'd be happy to get an early return but they don't wanna let me go.) Old, bent, busted, rusted... Still one of the most reliable and durable aircraft we have. If the T-6 lasts 20 years we'll be lucky. And sitting next to the student is so nice, except when they are puking, since you can actually see what they are doing, even what they are about to do. If we could keep the Tweet with the T-6 sunshades I'd be ready for another summer! edited for punctuation Edited June 17, 2009 by Dewey...BoneDriver
* Posted June 17, 2009 Posted June 17, 2009 Sitting in the jet the other day waiting for a fix and thinking about how you had to sometimes shake the tweet on engine start to get her to fire up. Had fun in that jet, especially the day we had 12 solo studs in the pattern. Glad I lived through that one. She'll be missed
jrobe Posted June 18, 2009 Posted June 18, 2009 Last contract link ever https://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123146137 Last Student flight ever https://www.sheppard.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123154700
contraildash Posted June 18, 2009 Posted June 18, 2009 "I'm sorry for the T-6A (Texan II) student pilots," he said, "because they didn't get to fly the T-37." Well at least we had a/c... Seriously though, I am kinda bummed that I never got a flight in a Tweet...always heard it was fun as hell to fly. I highly doubt the Texan will last anywhere as near as long as the Tweet did.
Flare Posted June 18, 2009 Posted June 18, 2009 The last flight....unless any of them busted their checkride!
HuggyU2 Posted June 18, 2009 Posted June 18, 2009 So,... which 3- or 4-star will get the last flight in the last Tweet? Has this food fight been settled yet??
Guest Hueypilot812 Posted June 18, 2009 Posted June 18, 2009 Glad I got to fly the Tweet. It really was a fun airplane to fly. It would be cool to buy one and form some kind of flying club.
WheelsOff Posted June 18, 2009 Posted June 18, 2009 So,... which 3- or 4-star will get the last flight in the last Tweet? Has this food fight been settled yet?? Foglesong!!! Sorry, sorry....
capt4fans Posted June 18, 2009 Posted June 18, 2009 (edited) Foglesong!!! Sorry, sorry.... Ban him now before we all SPam his email with gay porn. Edit for spelling. Edited June 18, 2009 by capt4fans
Stitch Posted June 18, 2009 Posted June 18, 2009 Glad I got to fly the Tweet. It really was a fun airplane to fly. It would be cool to buy one and form some kind of flying club. There were a dozen or so [lot buy] for sale on barnstormers dot net about a month ago, going for something like $1.5 Mil for the whole deal. The listing is gone now, must have sold. Too bad there gone, someone here could have bought em' up, fixed em' up then become a contractor to Big Blue so Pred/Reaper dudes could fly real jets to keep their skills up just like the old ACES program. "BaseOps Aviation Services... Providing Real Jets to Guys Banished to the Land of UAS" Sure it would never happen, but then again Big Blue spends all kinds of money on crazy stuff; like 48" plasma screens for restrooms. So never say never again... or so said Mr. Bond.
WheelsOff Posted June 18, 2009 Posted June 18, 2009 (edited) Ban him now before we all SPam his email with gay porn. Edit for spelling. Chill man, it's cool. Just having fun. Like the thread...keep the stories coming! Carry on. Edited June 18, 2009 by dml02b
HercDude Posted June 22, 2009 Posted June 22, 2009 If the T-6 lasts 20 years we'll be lucky. Not to sidebar too much, but we have 11 year old T-6s at Columbus, which fly the same as the ones fresh from the factory. Doubt we'll beflying them in 40 years, but they sure as shit will be in service well into the future.
HuggyU2 Posted June 22, 2009 Posted June 22, 2009 ...but we have 11 year old T-6s at Columbus,... Minor point, but didn't the first T-6's get delivered in 2000?
Guest MHL Posted June 22, 2009 Posted June 22, 2009 They might have been delivered in 2000, but the oldest tail numbers I remember were 98; possibly flown at Moody? Anyway, whatever age the older T-6's were.. they flew like dog shit.
HuggyU2 Posted June 22, 2009 Posted June 22, 2009 They might have been delivered in 2000, but the oldest tail numbers I remember were 98; possibly flown at Moody? Anyway, whatever age the older T-6's were.. they flew like dog shit. The year that is on the tail number is not the year the jet was built.
HiFlyer Posted June 22, 2009 Posted June 22, 2009 The year that is on the tail number is not the year the jet was built. Usually its the year that production lot was contracted for...might be a year before its actually built, a little longer before it shows up on the ops ramp (but varies with the aircraft and its complexity).
HerkDerka Posted June 22, 2009 Posted June 22, 2009 Usually its the year that production lot was contracted for That's what I've always heard. HD
Guest whyme? Posted June 23, 2009 Posted June 23, 2009 Lt. Col. Doug Antcliff, a standards and evaluation pilot from 19th Air Force, has flown the Tweet for the last 11 years. He said the aircraft is the same today as it was in 1991 when he was a student pilot. But, it doesn't make it any easier to see an "old friend" retire. HOW??? the rest of us are getting nailed with UAV and a horde of Alpha billets while one guy stick in one airframe. Did he ever see combat? A flying shoe???
08Dawg Posted June 23, 2009 Posted June 23, 2009 Lt. Col. Doug Antcliff, a standards and evaluation pilot from 19th Air Force, has flown the Tweet for the last 11 years. He said the aircraft is the same today as it was in 1991 when he was a student pilot. But, it doesn't make it any easier to see an "old friend" retire. HOW??? the rest of us are getting nailed with UAV and a horde of Alpha billets while one guy stick in one airframe. Did he ever see combat? A flying shoe??? Maybe he's a reservist IP.
HercDude Posted June 23, 2009 Posted June 23, 2009 Minor point, but didn't the first T-6's get delivered in 2000? Columbus has tail # 95-3003. It has to be at least 11 years old I would think. 3500-ish hours on it. When I was at the factory a couple month ago an '08 tail was next off the line, so I'm kind of assuming a 1-2 year lead for the T-6 fleet. And 11 years flying the Tweet is nothing. There are Reservists who have been here for 15 years. Pretty sure more than one retired with over 3,000 hrs in the T-37 . . . . 1.3 at a time.
xaarman Posted June 24, 2009 Posted June 24, 2009 (edited) According to https://www.hawkerbeechcraft.com/military/t-6a/not_pc_9.pdf (interesting read btw,) the T-6 has a 18,720 hour fatigue life. If that T-6 has 3500 hours in 11 years, they could last quite a while. Edited June 24, 2009 by xaarman
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