Three Northrop T-38 Talons
Posted by: 
Escanaba
N 44° 07.258 W 093° 14.890
15T E 480143 N 4885338
The three T-38s are in a dramatic static display visible from the freeway. I believe they are painted in the traditional Thunderbird colors.
Waymark Code: WMJD9
Location: Minnesota, United States
Date Posted: 07/27/2006
Views: 99
These planes were moved from the original waymarking point to this point at the airport.
The Northrop T-38 Talon is a US-built supersonic jet trainer for military pilots and NASA astronauts. It was the world’s first supersonic trainer and remains in service as of 2006. It is considered to have an exceptional safety record for a supersonic jet.
The T-38 was designed in the mid 1950s as the trainer variant of a lightweight fighter project (the N-156 project) by the Northrop Corporation (today part of Northrop Grumman). Although the United States Air Force had no need for a small fighter at the time, it became interested in the trainer as a replacement for the Lockheed T-33s it was then using in this role. The first of three prototypes (designated YT-38) flew on March 10, 1959. The type was quickly adopted and the first production examples were delivered in 1961, officially entering service on March 17 that year. When production ended in 1972, 1,187 T-38s had been built. Since its introduction, it is estimated that some 50,000 military pilots have trained on this aircraft.
The T-38 is of conventional configuration, with a small, low, long-chord wing, a single tail fin, and tricycle undercarriage. The aircraft seats a student pilot and instructor in tandem, and has intakes for its two turbojet engines at the wing roots. Its nimble performance has earned it the nickname white rocket—in 1962, T-38s set four climb records.
The Thunderbirds aerobatic display team of the U.S. Air Force used the T-38 Talon from 1974 until 1983 when it was replaced by the F-16 Fighting Falcon.
Talon information derived from Wikipedia.com
Type of Aircraft: (make/model): T-38 Talon
Tail Number: (S/N): couldn't read them in our picture
Construction:: original aircraft
Location (park, airport, museum, etc.): abandoned shopping center
inside / outside: outside
Other Information::
South of Cabela's
Access restrictions:
No climbing on structure
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Visit Instructions:
Photo of aircraft (required - will be interesting to see if the aircraft is ever repainted or progress if being restored)
Photo of serial number (required unless there is not one or it is a replica)
Photo(s) of any artwork on the aircraft (optional but interesting)
Tell why you are visiting this waymark along with any other interesting facts or personal experiences about the aircraft not already mentioned.