USAF grounds T-38 Talon Fleet...

[btacon 1,772]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,353716,00.htmlAfter second fatal in 8 days. I was fortunate to log 3.0 hours in the Talon. Great bird.Hope this is not the end of an era. RIP to the pilots and families affected.bt

[greggerm 312]

The story makes it sound as though the T-38 has a bad record of crashes or incidents by citing the statistics for the airplane. To a degree, this would make some sense - it is a training airplane and the high-performance jet experience level of those primarily flying it is probably quite a bit lower than many of the other USAF airframes. Granted, there is usually an instructor pilot aboard, but you never know how quick they can react if a problem occurs at a critical point in a flight. While 2 fatals in just over a week is certainly disturbing, I'd wager that they are in fact coincidental. I don't think the Talon will go anywhere soon - at 40 years old, I think it's proven to be a reliable tool for training and I hope it stays around too - that airplane has nice lines! More importantly though, condolences to the pilots families, both traditional and Air Force...-Greg