Was the Cessna T-37 officially the Tweet?
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Was the Cessna T-37 officially the Tweet?
Yes, I know that's now what the USAF has named it and that's what it's universally known as (because of the air intakes' screech), but does anybody know if this was a nickname that gradually became ubiquitous--like the A-10 becoming the Warthog rather than the Thunderbolt II--or was this the airplane's official designation right from the start?
Need the skinny for a brief article I'm doing for Aviation History magazine on the occasion of the type's retirement this year.
Need the skinny for a brief article I'm doing for Aviation History magazine on the occasion of the type's retirement this year.
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"Tweet" was an unofficial name well before it became official...
The Cessna T-37/A-37
The original official designation of the T-37 was "Jet Training Aircraft", or JTA.
Dragonfly was the original official designation of the A-37... often informally called "Super Tweet".
Note the T-37A had Continental-Teledyne J69-T-9 turbojets... license-built Turbomeca Marbores of 920 lb.s.t. each.
The T-37B/C had J69-T-25s... ~10% more powerful.
The A-37 had General Electric J85-GE-17As of ~2,900 lb.s.t. each... the same core engine as the T-38/F-5.
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The T-37A had one very noticeable and unpleasant characteristic: it was very noisy, even by the standards of a jet aircraft. Its little turbojets emitted a high-pitched shriek that led some to describe the trainer as a "Screaming Mimi", and it was referred to as the "6,000 pound dog whistle". The piercing whistle quickly gave the T-37 its name: "Tweety Bird", or just "Tweet".
The original official designation of the T-37 was "Jet Training Aircraft", or JTA.
Dragonfly was the original official designation of the A-37... often informally called "Super Tweet".
Note the T-37A had Continental-Teledyne J69-T-9 turbojets... license-built Turbomeca Marbores of 920 lb.s.t. each.
The T-37B/C had J69-T-25s... ~10% more powerful.
The A-37 had General Electric J85-GE-17As of ~2,900 lb.s.t. each... the same core engine as the T-38/F-5.
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There was an ANG outfit at Barksdale which flew the A-37 whilst I was there during Giant Voice '79.
The problem they had with the jet was that on a very hot summer's day, the accelerate-stop distance was such that even Barksdale's long runway was insufficient. Yes, the A-37 had bigger engines and a greater all-up weight than the Tweet, but it seems that the brakes hadn't been sufficiently upgraded - so it could get into an unbalanced 'can't go, can't stop' situation with a single engine failure at certain speeds, given the weight the ANG flew it at.
It certainly seemed to be a ground-gripper on the few occasions when we saw one taking off.
The problem they had with the jet was that on a very hot summer's day, the accelerate-stop distance was such that even Barksdale's long runway was insufficient. Yes, the A-37 had bigger engines and a greater all-up weight than the Tweet, but it seems that the brakes hadn't been sufficiently upgraded - so it could get into an unbalanced 'can't go, can't stop' situation with a single engine failure at certain speeds, given the weight the ANG flew it at.
It certainly seemed to be a ground-gripper on the few occasions when we saw one taking off.
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YouTube - Tweet Rage
Looks like the take off in this rather silly video has been sped up a fair bit, x2 on the FF.
Looks like the take off in this rather silly video has been sped up a fair bit, x2 on the FF.
