The 559
th Flying Training Squadron at Randolph AFB, Tex., shed its last T-37 Tweet, saying so long to the 42-year veteran during a special ceremony April 6. Last month, Randolph had marked the last graduating class of T-37 instructor pilots, who will teach student pilots on T-37s at other Air Education and Training Command bases until they, too, change their Tweets for the new T-6A Texan II. The 559th FTS commemorated the event with remembrances from one of its early commanders, retired Col. Robert Hermanson, a T-37 and T-6 flyby, and unveiling of a board with signatures of IPs, maintainers, and others who shared the Tweet heritage.
As Air Force leaders consider concepts of operations for Collaborative Combat Aircraft, sustainment in the field—and easing that support by using standard parts and limiting variants—should be a key consideration, according to a new study from AFA's Mitchell Institute of Aerospace Studies.