Other pilots scaled ladders to mount their exalted steeds. Most students soloed after only six hours.
#The weathering magazine vietnam.pdf plus
Straight "Hershey bar" wings, forgiving of novice inelegances, plus a wide-track, training-wheels landing gear, eased the segue from propellers. Designated T-37 by the Air Force, the trainer featured two French-designed Turbomeca J69 engines and side-by-side seating for student and teacher, a show-and-tell environment superior to tandem cockpits. In 1952, when the Air Force needed a trainer to transition fighter pilots into the Jet Age, Cessna entered a concept it called the Model 318 in the design competition-and won. The most recognized name in civil aviation launched its military line in 1949, with an observation aircraft, the O-1 Bird Dog, a high-winger that became famous for drawing enemy fire but not packing much to return it. Macaluso, a Distinguished Flying Cross recipient who went on to a career as a Continental Airlines captain, voices a recurrent theme among A-37 alumni: While Vietnam's "Heavy Metal"-the McDonnell F-4, North American F-100, and Republic F-105-deservedly got glory, the A-37 couldn't catch a break. The career arc of its pilots hit a glass ceiling that kept many from top ranks. We never got credit." If "credit" means "promotions," he's right: A-37 pilots do not lead the league. "If the airplane isn't fast and doesn't wow all the girls, then the airplane doesn't count. "Forget it," Robert Macaluso answered, when I asked about Dragonfly mystique. I was with them in a Branson, Missouri hotel for the A-37 Association reunion in May. I know some guys who are saying "We told you so" right now. Even books on the air war in Vietnam give it only passing reference, and one official Air Force account leaves it out altogether. after I requested background on the only jet fighter the company ever made. "I've checked around and there really isn't anyone here who can help you," wrote a spokesperson at Cessna-Textron Inc. The A-37 brought jet-propelled combat in Vietnam down from rarefied heights to the low-and-slow-where the acrid haze of rice-burning season permeated the unpressurized cockpit and you plucked bullets from Viet Cong small arms out of the armor plate under your seat after a mission. You could get a half-dozen for the price of a single F-4. The A-37 Dragonfly was a waist-high, subsonic light attack aircraft that could lift its own weight in fuel and armaments, built by a manufacturer known for civilian pleasure craft. military-industrial complex? This ain't it. Looking for Mach-busting splendor in million-dollar wonders from the heavies of the U.S. Lon Holtz had been a KC-135 navigator before skimming the treetops in the A-37A.
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