Tue, Nov 06, 2007
'White Rocket' To Go On Display At NGC Facility Near LAX
The first production-configuration
T-38 pilot training aircraft built for the US Air Force by Northrop
Grumman landed Monday at Los Angeles International Airport
(LAX) and rolled to a stop for the very last time.
The sleek, white supersonic aircraft now sporting a NASA logo, a
blue nose-to-tail racing stripe and tail number N963, came to rest
on the tarmac outside the former LAX Imperial terminal -- now home
to the Flight Path Learning Center & Museum -- where company
executives, employees and aviation enthusiasts had been waiting
excitedly to witness aviation history.
After 46 years of serving the pilot training needs of the Air
Force, the US Navy and NASA, the Hawthorne, CA-built N963 and the
oldest T-38 trainer still flying, was home.
"T-38 trainers, known to pilots as the 'White Rocket,' have been
in service since 1961, preparing an estimated 80,000 military
pilots to fly front line fighters and bombers," said George
Vardoulakis, vice president of tactical systems for F/A-18 programs
for Northrop Grumman's Integrated Systems sector. "They continue to
be among the safest, most reliable and highest performing
supersonic aircraft in service today, a testament to Northrop
Grumman's enduring strength as a first tier designer, developer,
producer and maintainer of manned military aircraft."
Approximately 700 of the 1187 T-38s built from 1959 to 1972
remain operational today, he added.
N963, which has spent its last 16 years training NASA shuttle
pilots, was officially retired earlier this spring. The company
plans to put the plane on permanent static display at Integrated
Systems' sector headquarters in El Segundo.
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