|
Description
| Notes: Military version of commercial sabreliner CARGO-CONFIGURED T-39A. | ||
| Manufacturer: | North American | |
| Base model: | T-39 | |
| Designation: | CT-39 | |
| Version: | E | |
| Nickname: | Sabreliner | |
| Designation System: | U.S. Air Force | |
| Designation Period: | 1948-Present | |
| Basic role: | Trainer | |
| Modified Mission: | Transport | |
| See Also: | ||
Specifications
| Length: | 43' 9" | 13.3 m | |
| Height: | 16' | 4.8 m | |
| Wingspan: | 44' 6" | 13.5 m | |
| Wingarea: | 342.0 sq ft | 31.7 sq m | |
| Empty Weight: | 9,845 lb | 4,464 kg | |
| Max Weight: | 18,650 lb | 8,458 kg | |
Propulsion
| No. of Engines: | 2 | ||
| Powerplant: | Pratt & Whitney JT12A-8 | ||
| Thrust (each): | 3,300 lb | 1,496 kg | |
Performance
| Range: | 2,118 miles | 3,410 km | |
| Max Speed: | 563 mph | 906 km/h | 489 kt |
| Climb: | 4,800 ft/min | 1,462 m/min | |
| Ceiling: | 40,000 ft | 12,191 m | |
Operators (Past and Present)
| USN | VRC-30 | North Island | CA |
| USN | VRC-40 | Norfolk | VA |
| USN | VRC-50 | Cubi Point | RP |
Known serial numbers
Recent comments by our visitors
| jnelson pensacola, FL | unable to recieve clearance for flight over Burma///correction:
Borneo 10/22/2012 @ 12:53 [ref: 67329] |
| Jill nelson Pensacola, FL | I was an aircraft commander of the T-39E at VRC-40 Norfolk at the time And I read the very thick accident report when it came out.
The crew was out of communication for 3 days. An article in the Virginia-Pilot ledger star was published on page 8 saying so. This accident report was a description of how not to preflight, accept an aircraft after maintenance. The left seat selected the right seat compass, as his line-up for takeoff was out-of-limits, they were called 3 times by departure control that they were off course, communications broke down between the crew as only one pilot had received training on the newly installed Omega. They were unable to recieve clearance for flight over Burma, thus an overwater flight with the new Omega. As the crew continued departure, the aircraft commander finally used a "combination" of his wet compass, the heading he was flying, and the true course. They asked for a DF steer, which was communicated 180 degrees out, then they descended, to attempt to land on what they thought was land, it turned out to be a shadow cast on the water. The hero was the aircrewman who managed to make an escape happen after the aircraft "porpoised" minus it's wings and floated long enough for them to get out. This aircraft was bring brought back to VRC-50 after an period of time of doing without any airlift availability. They wanted it back. It is and was a lesson to J-O's everywhere. 10/21/2012 @ 10:52 [ref: 67325] |
| Mike Schaffer Tampa, FL | Happy to hear that LCDR Liz Steinnecker spoke to the VT-86 community during their safety stand-down. I am sure that speech will result in further safety awards to your command.
After the CT-39E from VRC-50 "Foo Dogs" emergency management, I am sure the crew really appreciated those bags of McDonald's hamburgers from then U.S. Ambassador to Thailand, William Brown. Hope she did not forget that part of the sea story. When is the book "Eight Days in Captivity" scheduled to be released? 09/28/2012 @ 07:43 [ref: 67270] |
| SR Pensacola, FL | LCDR Liz Steinnecker came down to VT-86 as a guest speaker during our safety stand-down on 20 Sept 2012.
She shared her sea story about how cool heads and good crew resource management during an emergency prevails. She also touched on how safety issues in those days were brushed off and its good to see how much things have changed. I am looking forward to having your book published! 09/20/2012 @ 14:33 [ref: 67242] |
| Mike Schaffer Tampa, FL | ABC World News
(July 19, 1988) Here is a video report. Skip to player counter 1:39 - 3:10 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGa8lOxubwc&feature=player_embedded 03/09/2012 @ 12:33 [ref: 54191] |
| Mike Schaffer Tampa, FL | Vietnam returns Navy fliers to U.S
In that article, on the sixth paragraph it stated: "The Navy said the fliers reported their navigational instruments failed and the plane ran out of fuel after missing a stop in Malaysia." source: Houston Chronicle Archives; United Press International Tuesday, July 19, 1988 http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl/1988_557509/vietnam-returns-navy-fliers-to-u-s.html 03/09/2012 @ 11:44 [ref: 54190] |
| Mike Schaffer Tampa, FL | Vietnam Picks Up 3 Navy Fliers From Ditched Plane
In that article, on the eleventh paragraph it stated: "The Navy fliers were forced to ditch their CT-39E light transport Tuesday afternoon when their navigational instruments failed and the plane ran out of fuel, a Navy spokesman in Manila said. All three fliers are assigned to Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 50 at Cubi Point, the naval air station adjoining Subic Bay." source: Los Angeles Times; United Press International July 16, 1988) http://articles.latimes.com/1988-07-16/news/mn-6036_1_three-fliers 03/09/2012 @ 11:07 [ref: 54188] |
| Drew (Andy) Pitcher Oklahoma City,, OK | I was was a Flight Crew in the CT-39E from 1970-1975, we flew missions from Atsugi Japan to Singapore, Hong Kong, Cubi Point, Taipai, Taiwan, Saigon, Danang, Soul Korea, Guam and other places.
I remember a Bird strike once at Cubi Point that went into the co-pilots seat and destroyed the circuit breaker panel above his seat.. he lived and we got the plane to the ground but he was hurt pretty bad. I remember we had " Crews " at that time for a time and when our plane rolled in no matter what time these guys would come down and fix that plane as quickly as possible. It was a great system and the planes seemed to be UP about 90% of the time. I remember on one flight I slept in the Aircraft in Danang it was around Christmas time and we had two things that were bound for Atsugi Japan the next day. One was a case of San Miguel beer and the other was Top Secret documents. I remember that about 3 a.m. the door to my Acft opened and this shadow came up the stairs. I was sleeping armed with a 45 at the back of the Acft. When he came up I cocked the weapon and told him he needed to back out of the Acft and close the door or die where he stood. He said " Hey Man, it's ok.. the just told me to come on out and get that case of San Miguel. I said you have about 10 seconds to back out of here " 1 " .. out he went and we never did find out who was dumb enough to come out to the Acft. that morning. Another time we had taken off from Danang and was headed for who knows where with no passengers and I was up front and the co-pilot looked at me and said " I think we're in trouble "... I said what's wrong and he said we've been flying in the wrong direction for about 20 min. So far as I can tell we are about 30 miles inside of the DMZ. We flipped the plane sideways and back we flew saying Look out for missles...lol. We made it without incident but I picked up the nickname of Wrong way Pitcher.. don't know why.. it wasn't my fault. lol. Those were the days..for sure..many more stories I remember but if you would like more let me know. Take care and fly safe. Drew 10/27/2011 @ 06:30 [ref: 49793] |
| Mark Hoekstra , MD | VR-48 Out of Sigonella, Sicily used to fly the T-39 as well 03/18/2011 @ 06:35 [ref: 36881] |
| LCDR Liz Steinnecker, USN, ret. Pensacola, Fl, FL | Hi Aviation Enthusiast let me clear up some miss information.
We were on a Ferry missionw which had a new Omega installed incorrectly I might add thus the ditiching at sea It was my aircraft Commander check ride I passed We did not run out of fuel we did a controlled ditching I wrote the Natops on how to ditch the T-39 I was pregant with twins and cleared to fly but gave birth to our son Rigel now 22 In the life raft the were shotting at us they did not treat us good at all. At any given time we thought they were going to kill us and you all would have thought we died in the crash. The second night on the Friget not a fishing vessel but active North Viet. Naval Vessel the CO of the ship wanted to rape me he was convinced not to by the ships Dr I was in his state room when this occured he had a GUN on his desk that I was thinking of using. I am not from Tampa but born in New York and raised in Pompano Beach, FL. I flew a direct flight from Cubi to Guam with my Skipper. You can't go direct to Hawii. 01/22/2011 @ 08:40 [ref: 35848] |
Recent photos uploaded by our visitors
