August 26,
2008: The U.S. is donating twenty pre-owned
T-37 jet trainers to Pakistan. The T-37s are being taken from the U.S. storage
facility (the "bone yard"), refurbished and shipped to Pakistan
(which will pay for the shipping). Pakistan had requested the T-37s last year. Earlier
this year, after more than half a century of service, the U.S. Air Force retired the last of its twin jet T-37B
training aircraft. The replacement is a single engine prop driven aircraft, the
T-6A [PHOTO].
One of the
most successful aircraft designs of the post-World War II era, the Cessna T-37 is a two engine primary jet trainer with a top speed of about 680 kilometers an
hour. Designed in1953, the T-37,
affectionately nicknamed the "Tweet," entered service with the Air Force in 1957. Over the next
eight years. 1,268 T-37s were produced in several models, including a ground
attack version, the A-37, which has a much higher speed (830 kilometers an
hour) and somewhat different overall characteristics. Most T/A-37s were still
flying at the end of the Cold War. But since then, they have been retired at a
rapid rate.
The
versatile T-37 proved an attractive investment for nations wishing to stretch
their defense dollars, and was procured for use by the U.S. and 14 other
countries. The oldest T-37s have logged over 20,000 hours of light time, with
the average well over 12,000 hours.
By 1996, all
USAF T-37Bs completed a SLEP refit, extending their total useful life to over
30,000 hours. Regarded as a "user
friendly" aircraft, by now many T-37Bs are basically worn out. The T-6A was selected as its replacement
because this aircraft, based on the very popular Pilatus PC-9, already had an
excellent reputation as a trainer aircraft. But many nations still prefer the
tweet, and the United States is constantly asked to provide some of its retired
(to the bone yard) T-37s.
