On 2007-06-19 21:21:48 -0400, "Marty" said:


"Dudley Henriques" wrote in message
news:2007061912103350073-dhenriques@rcncom...
On 2007-06-19 10:15:20 -0400, "Mortimer Schnerd, RN"
mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com said:

SNIP
That is one sleek looking airplane.

There's a little "trick" that's used from time to time in the Talon
community concerning taking a newbie up for their first ride in a 38.
The roll rate of the Talon is practically in the class of an urban legend.
At .9 mach with a full lateral stick throw, you can push 720 degrees/sec
out of the roll rate. That's QUICK!
What you do is take the newbie up and talk up the roll rate during the
climb. Once up to altitude, you ask the newbie if they want to see a roll.
You always get a "yes" on this question :-)
You take the airplane out to .9 and key the ICS and ask,
"Are you ready?"
When you get the "yes" from the back seat, you jiggle the stick about an
inch left and back again. This "jars" the 38 on the longitudinal axis to
about 10 degrees and back again to level flight. Without further fanfare
you key the ICS and ask,
"How was THAT? Want to see another one????"
You almost always get a "HOLY ****!!!!" MAN, now THAT was FAST!!!!"
Then without warning, you actually roll the airplane with a full lateral
stick throw and laugh like hell as the newbie's helmet bounces off the
canopy.
GOD, I do miss the "good ole'days!! :-))
Dudley Henriques


Thanks Dudley,

I never could look at it as "just a trainer". I'd love to be that newbe
bouncing his helmet off the canopy. The longevity of the jet and all of the
efforts and upgrades being done to keep it on line is a tribute to the
design.

Thanks again,
Marty in Mo.

I talk to the T38 Thunderbird alumni almost every week having several
friends from that era who flew the Talon on the team.
Naturally the guys loved the F4 for airshow work as it was big, noisy,
and the team could use the smoke from the J79's as a hack index
reference. But of all the planes the guys flew, they swear they liked
the Talon the best.
If you ever get the chance, you might enjoy reading "They Rode The
Thunder", the official history of the Thunderbirds, written by my good
friend Bob Gore. Bob was with the Talon team and in fact designed the
beautiful paint scheme you see on the Thunderbird T38's.
Dudley Henriques