US's Most Unexpected Combat Plane with a Deadly Sound
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 พ.ค. 2024
- In the Vietnam War, among the high-flying jets of the era, the Cessna A-37 Dragonfly presented a distinct contrast. This compact jet, tipping the scales at just 14,000 pounds and easily accessible at waist height, lacked the imposing presence of its contemporaries. Pilots could simply step into the cockpit, a departure from the norm of climbing shaky ladders to board more menacing counterparts.
Equipped with a mini-gun that some dismissed as little more than a BB pistol in the fierce theater of war, the A-37 was often overlooked. Yet, beneath this unassuming exterior lay a surprisingly versatile warrior, especially supporting ground troops.
This humble jet trainer was initially designed for basic flight instruction; no one could have imagined that such a seemingly simple aircraft would evolve into one of the premier counterinsurgency planes of the Vietnam War: the A-37A Dragonfly. - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
My dad started flying combat in the B model. Loved the plane, he latter got bumped back up to the F-4 for combat missions. After he retired from the Air Force he went out and actually bought one and had it restored. He still loves flying it.
We have one at our local airport. I think it came from South America in the 90's. I love it! Hilariously, our customs didn't seem to notice that the minigun had a full ammo load 😂
Do you know if it was possible to install external fuel tanks on the hard points to exchange the range.
@@minicoopertn You mean extend the range? If so, the plane could probably cross the Pacific!
Is that KSGU? Have seen that airplane if so.
@@minicoopertn Yes. In the video, you see it with four external fuel tanks.
My high school history teacher, Col. Watt G. Hill Jr. flew one of these in Vietnam. He brought in tapes of one of his sorties to class and we got to listen to it. When he said that he was flying a Cessna, I had thought that he was flying a typical high wing Cessna such as a 182, so I was confused. :) This was in 1974 or 1975 at Air Academy High School on the grounds of the Air Force Academy.
Col. Hill also fought in WWII as well as Korea. He has a interview up over at the Library of Congress if you care to listen to it.
Over the years I had tried to track him down from time to time. But it wasn't until I came across a FB post that asked about him using his full name was I able to make any progress. From there it was a piece of cake, and I gave him a call.
The first thing that he wanted to know is if I was doing fine. That's the Col. Hill that I remembered. :) His next comment was "I'm glad that you didn't wait much longer!" Sadly he passed away this year in January. I'm glad that I didn't either.
One can say that the A-37 was the forerunner of the A-10.
Could be ... the P-47 is the forerunners
In design the forerunner was the Soviet Il-2 Sturmovik in all meaningful details. The US government is loathe to admit the origin of the A-10 design but comparisons can't be denied. The other aircraft had similar missions but with dissimilar design details. This in no way diminishes any aircraft success.
Spot on. We had these at NAS Willow Grove when i was growing up until about 1988 or so and then the PAANG transitioned to....the A-10.
@@theccpisaparasite8813The Jug was the grand daddy of the A10.
A-1 Skraider was the OG A10
We had a ton of these at Howard AFB in Panama in the late Eighties. We just called 'em Tweets. THE USAF was still using them for training in the 90's. Who'd have thought it? An attack plane built by Cessna.
I was stationed in PANAMA Ft Clayton from 83 to 85. 475th Trans Co.
Now they are using a crop duster.
They are a flexible, efficient, capitalist, patriotic ass fucking kicking kid in the back of the classroom. That would be me. Cessna is the embodiment, the essence of America and its love of country and our founder's commitment to the future.
This was a great glance back, but the furure doesn't look so bright when the enemy is... the enemy.
@@rwill156 and it's equally amazing. 😂
I was at Bien Hoa Vietnam for a year in1969-1970. I remember the A37s , I was surprised how small they were. I was an aircraft radio repairman.
I was in high school when my father was the Ops Officer and then Commander of a squadron of A-37Bs at Bien Hoa AB. Thanks for the memories...
Did you follow or did you.
The super tweet was a beast
Would've never known about this plane if wasn't for my Uncle, Lt. Col. Gregory Hammond. He flew it Vietnam.
I was a very small boy but never forgot him talking about and I even got a model of it from Revell.
By the time he retired as a Lt. Col., he had been Squadron Base Commander in Iraq flying the F-15A Strike Eagle.
Anytime I've shown that Super Tweet to anyone, they've nearly always doubted the story of it's use in Vietnam. They thought the A4 was the only jet.
I always thought these planes would make great little private jet if built for civilian use.
Cessna did consider a civilian model but the market wasn't there at the time. Would have been 4 place.
There have been many former military T-37s bought and civilianized for personal transport and sport flying. There is one at North Texas Regional Airport, also known as Grayson County Airport KGYI, the former Perrin AFB. My father was a crew chief for a T-37 squadron. They called them Screaming Meanies.
I'd love to fly it!
They became pretty popular with South and Central American Air Forces.
Cessna should have made a civilian model of this. They probably would have sold a ton of them.
Perhaps Cessna didn't want this aircraft piloted by doctors like the Beech 35 Bonanza nicknamed The Doctor Killer.
"Other fighters were proven here, in the states. That's not the case, with the A-37. This aircraft went over, to prove itself in combat". That my friends, is called 'Baptism by fire'!! "Where it remains active, as of 2024". A 65+ year old jet, that STILL sees service?? Yes, I'd say, that's successful😉👍!!
I can confirm that these motors were loud as heck. Another loud plane was the T-39 Saberliner. I never heard a B-66, but the A-3 was also loud.
The high pitched squeal mentioned was not true of the A-37, which had the J-85 instead of the J-69. The J-69 squeal of the T-37 was not from the turbine, but from the centrifugal compressor.
The A-3 had a P&W J-57, but when the Air Force was tasked to use it as the B-66 bomber, they opted for a much weaker Allison J-71, because the J-57s were in high demand. Then the Air Force added more missions and more stuff to the plane making it heavier. I never heard it, but I can imagine the noises it made. As I get older, I make those same kind of noises, with increasing frequency.
When I flew this in 1982 as an Instructor Pilot, more than a few tweets on the flight line were older than I was (born in 1955). The engines were dangerously slow to wind up from idle (14 seconds!!!!), but it flew like a dream. Flying the tweet is like making love to a pig: It's fun while you're doing it, but you still don't want your friends to see.
I believe you are speaking of the T-37 not the A-37B. I flew both, in '72 the T-37 at Willie and in '82 the A-37B out of DMAFB.
My Dad instructed in the T-37 at Reese AFB near Lubbock, Texas in the mid-late 60's. He called them 'Converters' because they converted fuel directly into noise with thrust as a byproduct. He also said they were so slow that they were the only AF jets that had bird strikes from the rear.
Bird strikes from the rear😂
The T/A-37 and B-66 . . . the only two aircraft that would destroy your hearing no matter what you did to prevent it.
My only experience with Tweets was as a kid working my grandpa's farm in S. GA during summer break. The farm was near Moody AFB, which is and was a training base. The T-37's would fly over the big field that was behind my grandparent's house. Typically they would be 100-150' agl (you could clearly see the crew unless they happened to fly directly overhead). Occasionally they would skim the treetops and you could see the rivets on their bellies. We'd see 2-6 most days. In any case, all you could hear was a fairly gentle whistle mixed with a bit of jet engine whoosh. Not obtrusive at all. Apparently a little distance makes all the difference.
These days, it's T6 Texan IIs at 5-10k agl doing ACM training. You can barely hear them, and need binocs to see them.
The high pitched squeal mentioned was not true of the A-37, which had the J-85 instead of the J-69. The J-69 squeal of the T-37 was not from the turbine, but from the centrifugal compressor.
This Cessna is amazing. I have never heard of it. I was so interested in this short documentary. Thank you to anyone involved in the making of this video. I really enjoyed it even if the context is about war and the lethal aspects of military aviation.
I was in the Air Force Art Program a lotta years ago and got two "orientation rides" in this plane, based in Peoria Illinois. I got to fly a lot of one of the rides, and being a pilot, I got 1.3 hours dual in my logbook. Great to see this video, love that little plane!
My high school algebra teacher was a pilot in that unit. Interesting to learn that they were more than they appeared.
Back in the late 70’s when I was stationed at Barksdale AFB in Shreveport,La we had A-37’s in our reserve unit. Used to see them all the time. They eventually transitioned to the A-10. Huge improvement.
The "Tweety Bird". Great aircraft !
I remember seeing the A-37 flying on nearly a daily basis out of Hancock Field in the late 70's
Me too !! I grew up in Lyncourt Mattydale area . A-37s flew directly over my back yard all the time . Then on drill weekends it was practically nonstop
Excellent recap!! But one BIG observation, you mentioned the role of this amazing aircraft in South America, but you failed to mention one country and Air Force that the majority of your images are from : URUGUAY and de Uruguayan Air Force. I think those espectacular tapes from SUMU and the 2nd Squadron deserve to be mentioned!
Thanks!! That was my SQUADRON!!
I remember seeing them sometimes I guess practicing maneuvers, I'm from uruguay.
There was a squadron of A-37s at NJAS Williow Grove when I was a kid in the 80's right before they transitioned to the A-10. Very cool aircraft.
The T-37 was chosen because it is cheap and can be easily convert to A-37 with minor modification. The Air Tractor AT-802 follow this tradition from crop duster to COIN aircraft.
Excellent! Thank you!!
When OA-37 B was deactivated, I was assigned to the last active UASF unit: the 23 TASS at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ. From 1987 to 1988, we transitioned into the OA-10A as FAC aircraft.
I was at DMAFB when we switch from O-2A's to the OA-37 in '81. 800 hrs in the jet. Was out of the AF when they switched to OV-10's and OA-10's. Would have loved to have flown the A-10, but the airlines paid more.
I absolutely loved the Dragonfly, as a once huge model builder and still am a aviation and war history lover i built the Dragonfly and learnt everything about it in the ssme process as i have with every other model while building them, and dragonfly along with the OV10 Bronco was some of my fav builds, ive built literally every aircraft apart from whats been developed in the last 10 yrs or so, thank you for this awesome doc on this amazing little aircraft, ✌ from South Africa 🇿🇦
My uncle flew the A-37 in 1974 for close air support. Finally finished his command in the t-38.
There was a T-37 at Grissom AFB near Peru here in Indiana when I was a resident in the VA Medical system in the late 80s/early 90s, and I was doing a rotation at the base clinic for primary care experience. The flight surgeon used it to get his flight hours in. I remember watching him take off one day, and wishing I could have been going up in it with him.
I remember hearing about these as trainers back in the 60s. I always thought they were a neat looking little plane. I never knew they were used in combat.
the Air Force has gone through a lot of money trying to find a replacement for A-37B in the low intensity roll. But none have its attributes. The answer is in front of them, but they are blind.
The A37 was effective only where the enemy had inadequate AAA. It would not survive against the USSR juggernaut.
@@alfaromeo6985 and why I said Low-Intensity conflicts. ^~^
@@ditzydoo4378 Roger
@@alfaromeo6985 ^~^
The T-37 is remarkably similar to the CT-114 Tutor the Canadian Snowbirds demo team flies.
I have seen them. I think the planes are over 60 years old
It's funny how similar the T-37 (Oct 1954) and CT-114 (Jan 1960) are to the BAC Jet Provost (Jun 1954). Funny.
I worked with a S. Vietnamese man who flew these planes. I hadn't heard of them until then, Hein even brought a model he made of one. That's when it hit me how little I knew about the war and started reading some books about it.
Quite similar to the jet proverst the RAF used as a jet trainer. Exported as the BAC strikemaster.
Well, propeople, how did you do it? What modifications did you install into the XR1200 to increase the top speed form 122 mph to 146 mph? Please explain.
Great overview of this aircraft.
the Arkansas AG was flying one in 1993, one night sparky and I were doing an airfield lighting inspection and had the chance to talk to the two guys flying it. I asked them if it was as fun to fly as it looked like it was and both grinned ear to ear and said it was funner than we could dream!
I really like your channel, thanks!
The Peoria ANG flew them on the late 70’s and 80’s. Saw them flying all the time.
Absolutely refreshing to see complete reality and humble honesty. This is straight reality. Thank you for being a beacon of fact for many seeking truth in a world of utter BS. Well done bud, in oh so many ways! Your life journey is now helping others by personally al example. Good for you!
...Bien Hoa, is is where one of my brothers was stationed in the early 70s.
The A-37 was a remarkable little jet
I remember the dark blue ones (training version) flying patterns around Texas A&M campus in the late 1980's! (I think now, the campus made a great, and likely fun, location for Rectangular Course - Ground Reference Maneuvers) I always enjoyed watching them.
Great documentary! Just one minor correction, near to the end you mention the F4 but the footage is of an A7 Corsair II.
We had these at Mather AFB. We called them T-37 tweets, the jet engine noise permanently damaged my hearing, and I DID wear hearing protection around them.
Never mentioned was the A-37s assigned to the Air National Guard. Stationed at Battle Creek ANGB, MI, we converted from Cessna 0-2s to the A-37B for our Forward Air Control (FAC) missions in the early 80s. I performed Weapons Loading and Weapons Release for this bird. It wasn't easy, or comfortable, to work on as its compact size made for cramped quarters. I laughed at their mention of how it could fly from "unimproved airfields". The engine intake was less than 2 feet off from the ground and it proved to be an efficient vacuum for FOD (Foreign Object Damage). Much of my hearing loss was from this aircraft's 2 screaming engines. The hearing protection provided by the USAF was less than effective. The pilots did love flying these.
The Portuguese airforce had an aerobatic squad flying T-37s for many years and the guys really got all out of those machines. It was called 'Asas de Portugal' (Wings of Portugal).
these planes were located at Air Nation Guard Essex, Md. They were replaced by the A10 in the early 80s. They are still there today, what an upgrade.
1:27 - TRAINING WHEELS landing gear? Oh so close, Sherlock. But it's actually TRICYCLE landing gear. Because the landing gear is configured like that of a child's tricycle. With one wheel in front (the "nose" gear) and two wheels behind (the "main" gear).
She was built at the Cessna plant in Wichita, Ks. I watched some early test flight takeoffs. Very impressive little bird for sure!
In 1963 serving in the Air Force at Mc Connell AFB Wichita, KS. I was assigned to Transit Alert. Those are the guys with broader skills that can work on almost every type that may visit Mc Connell.
As a result, I believe I was the only one with the T 37 on my Taxi card. That was until one day while taxing one to Compass Rose I was caught taxing at 5 feet AGL. (Above Ground Level)
The tower called me on it and that was the last time I got to; shall we say taxi this really neat bird. Damn that shadow! They are so easy to fly and control!
While stationed at Edwards, I had the opportunity to take a ride in a A-37. The pilot let me fly it. We did some aerobatics and a simulated bomb run. It was so much fun. I was scheduled to take a ride in a T-38 but it had problems the day before my flight so we took the A-37 instead. Glad we did.
In the early 70's we referred to the A-37 as Tweety Bird. My favorite as a 431 Crew Chief was the F4E hands down.
Cessna is an American icon. I learned to fly in their aircraft and I never looked back. Cessna should be awarded the Medal of Freedom by a real patriotic president. FJB!
This is a cool little plane, and dare I say it, quite good looking.
Quantity is its own quality. Its known that had several countries purchased far cheaper aircraft than the hyper-expensive war birds they did buy, they could have fielded tens of thousands at a time and simply overwhelmed the enemy.
The high pitched squeal mentioned was not true of the A-37, which had the J-85 instead of the J-69. The J-69 squeal of the T-37 was not from the turbine, but from the centrifugal compressor.
The A-37’s engine also powered the T-38 and the civilian version of the J-85, the CJ610, powered the 20 series Learjets.
Great video 👍👍
Compared to the f100d we were used to it looked like a toy. But the crews loved it.
This was the aircraft being flown by Air Force 1LT Michael Blassie when he was shot down over Vietnam in 1972. Blassie's remains were interred at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington as the Vietnam War representative. His remains were later identified and re-interred at Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis, his hometown.
I worked avionics on the A-37 in the late 80 and early 90s. I was fortunate to be given a ride in one. It was fun, but it is a rough ride in the seat.
Got to see 2 while stationed at Udorn RTAFB in 71
...we had on if these show up at our airport (for an airshow at Pratt & Whitney) at the Sikorsky facility in West Palm, Beach, FL...that little bastard was LOUD!!!
My student pilot class did not find the tweet easy to solo. Nearly a third of a class of 64 students that began, washed out in 1965. I disliked the first generation jet, which took forever to spool up. No body in my class washed out flying the t-38. After I finished my activer duty, I wanted to join a Reserve unit. I had a chance to fly an A-37 with the j-85 engines, the same as were in the T-38 without AB. Without the noise of the original, and almost instant thrust repunse, my class would probably graduated most of the students. I decided to fly a C-123K in a reserve unit. It had added two j-85's on pods , and after flying a KC-135 on active duty, liked the idea of getting up and walking around on a flight.
Weak class. We had 50 in our '72 class. Very few washed out.
Cessna? Those guys were in the wrong business. That little A-37 Dragonfly was a bad ass. Too bad Cessna's out of business now. They ceased operations in 2014.
Cessna is not out of business at all. It is part of Textron and a successful business jet manufacturer.
I work at Textron Aviation. Cessna is one of our brands.
How many of us would like to have this for our personal aircraft ?
Liked the Corsair at 8:33. 😄
that C 141 S ("S" for Starlifter) was the most powerful plane/ weapon i ever saw , it was our jet back then, it dropped iirc 180 troops into battle from the sky , smart b*mbs, the dogs of war, the enforcers....edit: beautiful plane too awesome, thanks for the vid ...
I called in this CAS aircraft many times, and it was excellent.
I wonder if there are any for sale now in flying condition? Would be an interesting plane to fly .
Imagine if the gau 19 in 50 cal had been an option for the gun. Or a 3 or 4 barrel version of the m61
Fire one shot and plane goes backwards from the recoil 😅
Cessna still probably has the molds The airforce should buy a thousand of them
I learned to fly in a T-37. It was a great trainer and a fun airplane to fly. It's only problem was that it was a bit under-powered. I (and every other student) thought that what it really needed was the J-85 of the T-38. That would be just the perfect acrobatic airplane. The A-37 was that airplane. The pilots who flew those were much luckier than many people understand.
I agree and really enjoyed my time in the A-37 even as much as I did flying the RF-4C.
@@jcheck6 What about T-38 vs the F-4?
@@williampotter2098 Bill, the T-38 is like your first girlfriend, you never forget her. Problem with the F-4 we always flew it with 2 external tanks and more times than not with 3....completely different airplane clean which we rarely did. All of them were great including the T-37. Currently flying an RV-8 that I love.
Bet this thing would still be solid to this day..
I learnt to fly in a Cessna , I never knew they had this lil Super Tweet.
I saw one at Alameda Naval Air Station in the early 80s. It was being used by the Canadian (airforce?) as a trainer and had put in on a long cross country training flight. Unfortunately a storm blew in and it was marooned with wheel damage, but it was flown out in a few days so it must be a tough little bird.
I was told it was referred to as a 4 ton dog whistle (?), but that doesn't seem to match the specs. Looked cool anyway.
The whistle'll be the squeal of the engine compressor of the trainer. The attack jet weighs about 4 ton fueled without ordinance.
Was this the precursor to the A-10?
During the festivities in RVN in 1969-70 I got to see a lot of ground attack operations.. Tweety Birds were the funnest to watch. Cruising along then suddenly going almost vertical in a dive to target then pop right back up to cruising around again. Almost as much fun to watch were B57s.
These aircraft supported the 1st. CAV out of Bien Hoa when I was in RVN. We called them "noise producers".
I watched them fly out of Bein Hoa and later build piston Cessnas along side the A-37 assembly line. Also, the A-37 did not have the high pitch sound that gave the name Tweet (we called them Tweetybirds). The sound came from the centrifugal compressor on the engine of the T-37. The A-37 with the axial compressor engine did not make the same sound.
As a kid I'd ride my bicycle between these planes parked at Albrook AFB in Panama, my father instructor IAAFA in 70s. Impressive even just parked.
I was stationed at Albrook AB in Panama as an bilingual instructor for IAAFA from 1986 TO 1989. We had an A-37 as a ground maintenance trainer in one of the hangars. In 1989 I transfered to Howard AFB and worked in the squadron of A-37 they had there. I was part on the US invasion of Panama to oust Noriega. Interesting times.
SuperTweet 👍😁
Imagine if Cessna made an A-10 Warthog 😜
I didnt know they were still flying, thanks.
A friend is flying one now for the civilian owner. They may be at Oshkosh this summer.
It reminds me of the scorpion that had pods on each wing tip with rockets. Medusa Lodge in Wing structures a very similar.
Interesting Aircraft. 🇺🇸
Very fine video about The Great Tweet! The Portuguese Air Force operated more than twenty T-37C from 1963 to the mid nineties and she was the aircraft of the _Asas de Portugal_ aerobatic team, which was based 15 km from where I live. I saw them passing thousands of times and saw dozens of training aerobatic formation flights . 😍
You could not plug a G-suit in a T-37, and that made for quite demanding flights.
In case you'd like to see what a common T-37C - six actually - can do in skilled hands, search _Rolling in the skies - Asas de Portugal_ right here on YT, a wonderfully made Japanese documentary from 1990. I won't provide the link because they're systematically deleted. Worth see. 😀
Never heard of the plane. First I thought it was some sort of 'alternative Universe' video, I had to check if it really existed or not... 😂 But it did! What a great aircraft! I really like it. My favourite type of aircrafts are the cheap and simple COIN birds. Thanks!
Every time I see a shot from below I think of the A-10.
Seems like these little stingers could still be useful in the US Arsenal today on certain specific missions. Especially if they upgraded that mini-gun to a more powerful rotating 20mm or 30mm auto cannon. They could also fit the most up to date missiles and avionics having a right seat weapons officer on board full time who could also act as a co-pilot, communications, and electronic warfare/weapons systems officer. These little super birds seem to be a very useful aircraft (also economical). It's a wonder the U.S. Armed Forces don't use a lot more of these little aircraft. Especially since just about every US Armed Forces Pilot (Even helicopter pilots) have some initial training in the Tweet trainer aircraft. That makes it a lot easier to train pilots on the combat model which seems to be just as capable as the A-10 Warthog although the Warthog is probably a lot more robust to sustain battle damage than these birds are. Still, sending in an entire squadron of these little things would without a doubt wreak havoc! Being so cheap, you could send in ten times the amount of planes. Imagine seeing 250 of these things coming in for a combined air and ground attack operation! Good gosh, the enemy would bank and turn, hitting the afterburners to run away! If they could figure out the weight issues, this little plane could be one of the most effective in the entire US Armed Forces light attack, ground attack, urban attack, strike and run missions, or any other type of mission where a small, fast, heavily armed (adding the auto cannons and hard points) aircraft could be used to devastating effect. These are also easy aircraft to learn to fly and master and the fact they have unimproved landing strip capability (which many U.S. fighter and ground attack aircraft do not have the ability to do), are easy to repair and maintain compared to more complex ultra high end fighters and stealth fighters, these little thing actually make sense. It's a no wonder that many of the other nations around the world who don't have unlimited military funding but want to have a first class air force use these effective and low cost aircraft. Granted, you aren't going to go up against an F-16, F-22, or F-35 (or many other aircraft in the US and other nations inventories, but, again, for a nation on a budget, who want top notch multi-role and cost effective military aircraft, these fit the bill nicely. Even the US is re-thinking their US military aircraft inventory as of late, looking for ways to reduce the extraordinary costs associated with operating such advanced and world leading fighters, bombers, and interceptors. These have led to the more recent acquisitions in the US of the small propellor driven crop dusters turned into twin seat, heavily armored ground attack and light attack roles. The US and other nations are realizing there is still a place for low cost combat aircraft such as the Dragonfly as well as a myriad of other low cost (but highly effective in combat) aircraft including airplane drones, helicopter drones, fighter jet drones, even more recently submarine drones, as well as revisiting lower cost manned aircraft of all types but fitting these lower cost manned aircraft with the same advanced electronic and weapon technology of their much more expensive siblings.
Hilarious aircraft nomenclature pronunciation.
The Tweet is neat.
Worked T-37's for 4 years good birds, seldom had any issue that couldn't be fixed in 2 hours or less. That was 38 years ago and i could still remove & install a engine with no problem it was that simple.
What are "training wheels landing gear"?
I want the trainer version so bad. I bet i could fly it with only verbal instructions on the ground.
The A-37 operated at the 910 AFR TFG in Youngstown, Ohio. Nobody called it the "tweet".
A little unpretentious beauty !
Dragonfly was such a cool aircraft
I have always wanted a dragonfly. Side by side allows you to fist bump your copilot after a "good show". 😁
I was at Laughlin AF Base from 75 to 79 and this was a flight training base. The T38s were at one end of flight line and the T37s were at the
other end. We almost always refueled both sides of lane going toward
The aair strip and a tight turn around and refuel the opposite side going back to the road out. These T37s were almost always running
when we refueled them making an almost unbearable loud screaming
noise. That and the fact that you have around 30 of them running took ear plugs and ear muffs that didn't help much. I have bad tinnitus
from those screaming buggers.
From far away we can recognize it through noise
I used to work with a guy that had flown these in Illinois air guard - he was deaf as a post !
Best ground handling of any aircraft - ever. That thing is a Jaguar on the ramp.