Thursday, May 08, 2008

More High Tech Fallout


We give the high tech obsessed Air Force no reprieve as funds for much needed replacements for venerable workhorses is spent on wonder planes. From Strategypage:

The U.S. Air Force has grounded over 500 T-38C jet trainers, after
two of them crashed in an eight day period. The air force is hustling to find
out if there is a connection between the two crashes, and if there is any kind
of fundamental flaw in the aircraft.

The T-38 has been in use as
a trainer for 47 years, and has a good safety records... Production of some
1,200 T-38s ended in 1972, so all existing models are over 36 years old. The
five ton aircraft is actually a variant of the F-5 fighter aircraft...


All these are great old planes, but the keyword here is OLD! Nothing wrong with utilizing an old design, in my view, as long as the plane itself is kept in production to replace platforms as they are worn out. Most civilian consumers buy a new car every 5-10 years, but we expect our brave warriors who sacrifice so much to make due with these military versions of the '57 Chevy!


Just a suggestion, the USN uses a version of the British Hawk series as a trainer, which they dub the Goshawk. And the Hawk is still in production...