Old Viper Tester Posted December 27, 2017 Share Posted December 27, 2017 (edited) In the 1980s, Space Shuttle crews would come to Edwards AFB to practice landing approaches to Runway 22 and Rogers dry lake. They would use modified T-38s and Gulfstreams Its... N946NA with two airfoil panels beneath the mid-fuselage and optics "dog house" in front of the windscreen N947NA with same modifications The airfoils would rotate to provide variable drag increases for 'low L-over-D' flight profiles And the T-38 chase birds with increased area speed brakes. T-38A, USAF s/n 65-10354, NASA N912NA. Note this one still carries the red diamonds tail band from its previous life with the 3246th Test Wing at Eglin AFB. USAF s/n 65-10355, NASA N913NA USAF s/n 65-10351, NASA N909NA, showing the production speed brakes USAF s/n 65-10326, NASA N906NA, in the background shows that it is also an ex-Eglin jet. fundecals makes a NASA T-38 decal sheet in 1/48 scale with these talons, and a bunch of others, including the diagonal striped panels for the speed brakes. Wish they would do the same sheet in 1/72, even though we still don't have a "real" T-38 kit in the gentlemen's scale. Thanks for looking, Sven Edited December 28, 2017 by Old Viper Tester 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thevid Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 I have photos of one of those simulators taken at ELP Airport. They doing training around White Sands, NM in November 1976. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 You nailed the problem, we still don't have a proper T-38 to make us 1/72 modellers happy ! And the best we have, that is the Sword kit, is not easily available. And when it's available it's generally the C version. This is one subject for which I'm now moving to 1/48 scale, where there's a great kit from Wolfpack. This can often be found for good prices in Far East online shops, so much that I've found them to be cheaper than the Sword 1/72 kit.. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dermo245 Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 (edited) Can highly recommend 'Into the Black' by Rowland White - great book about development & first flight of the Space Shuttle and includes chapters on these aircraft and the challenges of flying chase planes with the shuttle. Sorry for the thread creep! Dermot Edited January 9, 2018 by Dermo245 My mistake spelling 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Viper Tester Posted January 9, 2018 Author Share Posted January 9, 2018 14 hours ago, thevid said: I have photos of one of those simulators taken at ELP Airport. They doing training around White Sands, NM in November 1976. Hi David, At first your comment surprised me - didn't think they had been doing these ops that long before the Enterprise free flight. But then, why not? They knew what the design looked like in 1976 and they certainly needed to figure out the approach profiles for Kennedy, White Sands, and Edwards at some point. Better sooner than latter. Thanks, Sven Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 Would love to model one of the NASA Gulfstream IIs - there doesn't seem to be a kit though. The nearest is the Broplan GIII, which could be converted. I can feel an interesting project coming on... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Mc Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 On 09/01/2018 at 15:20, Old Viper Tester said: Hi David, At first your comment surprised me - didn't think they had been doing these ops that long before the Enterprise free flight. But then, why not? They knew what the design looked like in 1976 and they certainly needed to figure out the approach profiles for Kennedy, White Sands, and Edwards at some point. Better sooner than latter. Thanks, Sven Enterprise's glide tests were in 1977 so just the following year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Viper Tester Posted January 11, 2018 Author Share Posted January 11, 2018 18 hours ago, Eric Mc said: Enterprise's glide tests were in 1977 so just the following year. Stand corrected. Guess I was thinking of the first space launch. Sven Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thevid Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 Here's a shot of the test aircraft. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thevid Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 6 hours ago, thevid said: Here's a shot of the test aircraft. El Paso, Texas. November 1976. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinback Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 Thanks for sharing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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