AEDC supports more than 50 years of testing for T-38 Talon

  • Published
  • By Shawn Jacobs
  • AEDC/PA
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn. --  Air Education and Training Command celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first operational T-38 Talons' arrival at Randolph Air Force Base (AFB), Texas March 17.

Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) tested the T-38 before it flew and has supported upgrades to the aircraft throughout the years.

The T-38 is a twin-engine, high altitude, supersonic jet trainer used in a variety of roles because of its design, economy of operations, ease of maintenance, high performance and exceptional safety record.

The Talon first flew in 1959. More than 1,100 were delivered to the Air Force between 1961 and 1972 when production ended.

In 1958, prior to its first flight, the T-38 Talon underwent aerodynamic tests, including drag studies in AEDC's 16T facility. In the 1960s, AEDC tested the Talon's propulsion system, the J85 turbojet engine manufactured by General Electric, to verify performance and operability.

In the late 1970s, as part of a comprehensive Aeropropulsion Laboratory program to gain more knowledge of jet engine emissions on the environment, a J85 engine was tested using a mobile pollution detector also developed by AEDC. More recently, a J85 engine has been used to aid in the development of exhaust gas measurements systems and is housed at the University of Tennessee Space Institute.

Since 1972, bird impact testing has been performed at AEDC on a number of Air Force aircraft components, including structures from the T-38 trainers.

During the last decade, collaborative support was provided by technical experts at the Air Force Flight Test Center (AFFTC) at Edwards AFB and AEDC to quantify performance improvements to the most recent version of the T-38 and address some problems that cropped up in the field, according to Dr. Don Malloy, U.S. Air Force lead aerodynamics analysis engineer at AEDC. At the time of the testing, Dr. Malloy was the Aerospace Testing Alliance (ATA) technical lead on the test program that included the flight testing at Edwards AFB.

"The AFFTC and AEDC team used historical reports from AEDC and Edwards along with state-of-the-art modeling and simulation and test and evaluation capabilities to support test and evaluation efforts at Edwards Flight Test Center," Dr. Malloy said. "Results from flight testing were also used by AEDC analysts to support ground testing of the modernized T-38 turbojet engine at General Electric's engine test facility. In order to support a very aggressive flight test schedule, AEDC also prototyped some of the hardware that was installed on the flight test aircraft."

Dr. Malloy described the overall result of the AEDC- AFFTC collaboration.

"The AFFTC and AEDC provided the test data and knowledge the program office needed to select the final configuration to go forward with for the remaining life of the weapons system," he said. "AEDC continues to support the Talon through the Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century program, AFSO21. Our recent support to the AFSO21 team that improved a critical engine control component and our new way of thinking are as important as our support for the recent modernization program."

Based on the recent propulsion modernization the T-38's service life should extend to at least 2020.