"High high high... like a rocket to the sky!" T-38A ‘The White Rocket’ in service with NASA

Elegant, beautifully curved shapes with a high recognition value, a brute performance that seems to stand in fascinating contrast to its graceful appearance and a long service history in which it has made itself indispensable in many areas of Western military aviation, secure the T-38 Talon the status of an aviation icon.
Against this background, it is all the more interesting that the aircraft shown here with the serial number 60-0551 can be considered one of the most famous T-38 Talons - and for good reason, as will be shown below!

About the T-38 Talon
The T-38 Talon, which went into series production in 1960, was the first supersonic trainer available to the US armed forces. A fantastic thrust/weight ratio enabled a top speed of 1380 km/h and a remarkable climb rate, which was also due to the double installation of the GE J85-JA engine. Its powerful thrust - twice 13.1kN without and twice 17kN with afterburner - quickly earned the design the fitting nickname ‘The White Rocket'. The impressive performance of the T-38 is no coincidence: the design was derived as a trainer variant of the Lightweight Fighter Project, which had been planned since the mid-fifties. The LF project resulted in the F-5 Freedom Fighter, which was not only very similar to the T-38 in terms of its shape but also its construction. However, after the USAF opted for the F-16 as the future light fighter aircraft, the F-5 was optimised by Northrop for the export market and sold quite successfully against the backdrop of the Cold War, which was heating up in many places.

The T-38 Talon, whose 1187 examples built between 1961 and 1972 made it the most frequently built jet trainer, was also used by several air forces in the western world: Germany, Taiwan, Turkey and Portugal flew and continue to fly the potent jet trainer, sometimes in armed form. However, the USAF remained the main customer for the T-38. A good 500 T-38s are currently still in service in the USA, most of them in the latest T-38C variant.

About the original: T-38A s/n 60-0551
The original of the T-38A 60-0551 shown here belongs to the first generation of Talons. In May 1961, it was shown on the big stage for the first time as a Northrop Company demonstrator at the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget. A little later, in October of the same year, this aircraft made history: legendary pilot Jaqueline ‘Jackie' Cochran achieved an incredible nine altitude and speed world record flights aboard the 60-0551! The location for this was the no less legendary Edwards AFB. Cochran had been one of the most famous female pilots in the USA since the late 1930s. Her reputation as the ‘Speed Queen' dates back to the time when she was the first woman to win the Bendix Race. ‘Speed' continued to be a keyword associated with Cochran: she was the first woman to break the sound barrier in 1953. But this achievement did not end there: with numerous other ‘firsts' and world records, Jaqueline Cochran earned herself a reputation that has endured in the States to this day, and she is considered by many to be America's best female pilot.

The 60-0551 also continued its upward trajectory - and not just in the figurative sense: from 1962, the tried and proven aircraft served as a test aircraft for future astronauts in the Mercury programme. Deke Slayton and Walter Schirra, two astronauts from ‘Mercury Seven', used this Talon to prepare for their tasks as astronauts and the forthcoming space flights. At the time, the aircraft had been taken over by NASA and was stationed in Cape Canaveral. On 3 October 1962, Walter Schirra became the fifth US astronaut and ninth person to reach Earth orbit.

By this time, the aircraft had taken on the appearance shown here: while Cochran had flown the 60-0551 with broad orange markings on the nose, tail and wingtips, in NASA service only the ‘fluorescent orange' area at the nose remained.
T-38 Talons and NASA were to form a long-lasting bond from those days onwards. In the supersonic two-seater, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration found an ideal training aircraft, test platform and chase plane. The fast Talon was ideally suited to accompany and visually monitor the various X-planes and other flying test equipment - at least as long as they were in the earth's atmosphere!
To this day, the T-38 Talons are still used on NASA missions and are very popular with flying personnel. One comment about what it feels like to take to the skies in a T-38 particularly appealed to me: ‘it feels like you're in a sports car - one that's Mach 1.3 fast!'

The T-38A with the serial number 60-0551 has been preserved to this day: it is on display at the Smithsonian Institution, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Centre. It no longer shows the markings from 1962, but is in the colours of the Sacramento Air Logistics Center at McClellan Air Force Base.

About the kit and building process.
It is rare to find a kit that shows the usual three marking options, but these belong to one and the same aircraft! Wolfpack has opted for this appealing idea in this kit released in 2017, giving the modeller a choice of three attractive alternatives relating to the eventful service life of one of the best-known Northrop T-38s.

The moulds were made by Wolfpack themselves and were first published in 2013. Allow me to keep my comments brief: the owner of this kit can expect solid moulding quality, very good fit and a level of detail that is perfectly acceptable. However, the level of detail is not outstanding.
I was positively impressed by the accurately fitting and finely worked out representation of the complex hinge for the front and rear open cockpit canopy. A comparison with other manufacturers, such as Trumpeter, turns out to compare very favourably.

Since I was tempted to try and create a ‘piece of jewellery' to match the elegance of the T-38 moulds, I couldn't help but add a little more detail: an etched parts set from Eduard is used for the cockpit, the airbrakes are also made from etched parts and the entire tail behind the rudder edge, nozzles included, comes from ResKit.
I can highly recommend the purchase of this kit, also with regard to the interesting marking options, as well as the use of one or the other aftermarket part.
Wolfpack's depiction of the T-38A 60-0551 certainly provides a stimulating encounter with fascinating aspects of test flying in the USA, whether as an Air Force aircraft or in NASA operations!

20 additional images. Click to enlarge.