North American T-39 Sabreliner
History
The prototype was designed and flown as a private venture NA264 that was part of a utility experimental requirement in August 1956. At the time no guarantee of a military production order was given, however, the small jet transport under study at the time could meet the USAF specification. The original prototype had the engines buried in the wing root. These were eventually changed to a new design with new rear fuselage mounted pods. In this new format the prototype flew on the 16th September 1958 bearing the civil registration N4060. It was a six-seat transport that was powered by 2500 Lb St. General Electric J85 turbojets. The USAF continued to evaluate the type and in 1958 a production order of seven T39A was placed. Later production aircraft were powered by 3000lb St Pratt & Whitney J60-P-3A. By the end of 1960, 94 Sabreliners were on order and 55 were added at the end of 1961.
Early production models were used by Air Training Command at Randolph AFB by the USAF headquarters for command flying with the Strategic Air Command and Systems Command. Six T-39Bs were used for the F-105 D Thunderchief training, which had all-weather search and range radar. The T-39As were converted to T-39F as trainers for pilots and electronic warfare with the USAF.
Other T-39s were operated by the US Navy. These were under the initial designation T3J-12 as maritime radar operator trainers, which were later known as T-39Ds. Deliveries to the Navy began in August 1963 to Naval Air Training Command HQ at NAS Pensacola. The Navy received a total of 42 T-39s. 143 T-39As and 6 T-39Bs were produced for the USAF. The T-39B & D variants had a maximum speed of 540 mph at 36,000 ft, a maximum cruising speed of 502 mph at 43,000 ft and a range of 1,725 miles.
During the 60s the T-39 Sabreliners were frequently spotted in the skies over Malta being so strategically positioned in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. An aircraft spotter myself I always regarded the T-39 as having a graceful design and definitely wanted to include a model of it in my collection in colour scheme and markings of one that landed at Luqa. I have spotted the Sabreliner some 40 times as they transit through Luqa airfield during the southbound journey to Wheelus Air Base or on their return trip heading North on their way to their base in Europe. This meant that there were some 18 different aircraft with some of them making more than one visit. The following list indicates the date the T-39As were logged on the island between 1964 and 1966: -
Date Serial No Details for stopping over at Luqa
5.6.64 10654 to Wiesbaden 6.6.64
12.6.64 24469 Bentwaters UK to Wheelus in Libya
18.7.64 10677 to Wiesbaden
16.7.64 10685 to Ramstein
17.7.64 24478 to Wiesbaden
1.8.64 10684 to Ramstein 17th AF HQ
22.8.64 10684 Ramstein to Athens
3.10.64 24479 86th Air Div. Depart to Ramstein 4.10
21.10.64 24471 Wheelus to Bitburg
6.12.64 10680 To Wiesbaden
22.1.65 24478 from and to Wheelus
19.3.65 10654 7101 ABW Wiesbaden to Wheelus
7.5.65 10684 7030CSW Ramstein
8.5.65 234469 81 TFW Bentwaters
17.5.65 10653 7101 ABW Wiesbaden
31.5.65 24477 Wheelus to Spangdalhem
13.7.65 10685 17th AF HQ
4.9.65 10677 ----
22.9.65 10678 HQ3 A/F
10.11.65 24471 36 TFW
15.11.65 24470 Rome to Sigonella
21.11.65 24470 to Ramstein
3.12.65 10684 from Ramstein
24.12.65 10684 17th AF HQ Ramstein
29.12.65 24469 81st TFW Bentwaters
21.1.66 10653 Wiesbaden to Wheelus
13.2.66 24461 81st TFW Bentwaters
16.2.66 10664 ----
1.3.66 10665 7101st ABW
23.4.66 24479 17th AF HQ
17.6.66 10678 3rd AF HQ
20.7.66 24471 36TFW Wheelus to Bittburg
26.9.66 24474 48TFW Lakenheath
29.9.66 10684 Ramstein to Wheelus
29.10.66 10664 7101st ABW
1.11.66 10685 17th AF Ramstein
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The
T-39 Sabreliner Kit
The
T-39A was always an aircraft that appealed to me, being a trainer or a transport
type besides being an aircraft of graceful design and I always wondered why kit
manufacturers never bothered to issue a scale model of it. Airmodel of Germany
came to the rescue and a number of years back released a vac-form kit at a scale
of 1/72 Kit No 193 and is still on the market till this day. Of all the liveries
of T-39s that I have seen the one that my fancy fell on was T-39A 24461 that I
logged landing on runway 024 at Luqa one afternoon on the 13th of
February 1966. This aircraft belonged to the 81st Tactical Fighter
Wing based at Bentwaters in SE of UK. This carried a very attractive colour
scheme having a white top and the rest is metal finish with a blue cheat line
along the fuselage and carried Day-Glo, high visibility orange at nose, tail,
and wing tips area.
The
Airmodel kit is very basic and comes in one sheet of white vac-form plastic
which contained 14 kit parts consisting of main wing halves, tail planes, engine
parts and fuselage halves. An accurate sheet contained scale plans as well as
suggestions of colour scheme finishes in the form of side views. This happened
to be the same copy of line drawings that appeared in a past issue of Aviation
News. A separate sheet that comes as part of the instructions told the history
and hints on the method to use to go about building the vacform kit.
Although very basic, the kit of the T39 can be turned into a likeable
detailed scale model, a replica in miniature of the real thing. As with all vac
form kits the first stage is to mark in pencil or felt pen along the periphery
of each of the embossed vac form components. This is followed by the next step
which is scoring along the marked line with a sharp modelling knife. There is no
need to cut through the parts and once the items are scored these can be bent
backwards and forwards until the item breaks from the backing sheet.
Surface imperfections which are common on vac form kits released long ago
are attended to with wet and dry or scraped smooth or filled with putty and
faired over. The extremities of components like the trailing edges of main wing
parts and tail planes and rudder are scraped lengthwise with a modelling knife
so that the correct taper end section is obtained.
The
more detail in scale that one can add to the kit the closer one can get to the
authenticity of the real aircraft. To achieve this adequate reference is
essential to aviation books and in this case to a past issue of an old Flying
Review which also contained a cutaway drawing showing the interior setup of the
aircraft. This is made by reference to material related to the subject as well
as close study of photos of the real aircraft. The next step is to open up the
fuselage windows, the crew office, wheel wells, and engine intake and outlet
orifice. In case of the engine pods I had to add the forward compressor stage
and the rear engine inside detail. Detailing to the crew compartment, wheel
wells were also added during the process of assembly. I also elected to modify
the existing kit by lowering the inner flaps and opening the leading edge slots
and adding a few panel lines that disappeared during the scraping of the kit
surface or were incorrectly represented.
The
interiors were finished in light grey while the crew seat, instrument panel,
central console, control columns and cockpit interior were finished in shades of
grey and black. The cockpit canopy, one of which is supplied in acetate was
carefully cut with scissors and gently trimmed with a modelling knife to obtain
the best fit. I acquired the undercarriage from an old kit of the Super Sabre
F-100 which is apparently the same make and size since no undercarriage gear
comes with the kit. The backing vac form sheet provided enough material to
produce the undercarriage doors, and other essential plastic pieces as strips
that are attached along the inner edge of the fuselage top and bottom to align
the fuselage halves when these are brought together to form the whole fuselage.
During this process I also added cabin partitions and rear bulkheads of a
circular shape, cut flat at the bottom where it meets the cabin floor.
To
avoid a tail sitter, a nose weight was added which is accommodated at the nose
cavity between the box like nose wheel well and the cockpit coaming. The weight
is secured in place using scrap paper and white glue. As for the leading edge
slots these can either be scratch built or as with my case, a careful cutting of
the slats will save building them from scratch. The wing halves are glued
together but placing in between a plastic sprue distance piece to give wing its
thickness. Locating pegs are then added to the end section of the wing parts.
These will slot into drilled holes at the wing root area on the fuselage sides
which are in the way of the wing pegs. The wing parts were then joined to the
fuselage and checked for the correct angle viewing the assembled kit from the
front. I also cardboard jigs to hold the parts together until the liquid glue
has set, allowing 24 hours to dry completely. The wing roots were then treated
with putty which was later faired smooth using wet and dry sanding. The same
areas were then treated with a coat of light matt grey that showed any
imperfections that needed to attend to. The undercarriage detail and well doors
were the last items added to the kit. Other exterior detail as wireless was also
added.
The
colour scheme that I have chosen for the kit that has always appealed to me was
one that I have spotted at Luqa airfield in Malta on 13.2.66 which was a
Bentwater based one. In my opinion this was the most striking colour scheme that
ever existed on Sabreliners of the USAF. These have left so much impression on
me and likewise minded modellers that even to this day decal manufacturers seem
to give a promotion to the high visibility markings on new aircraft decals. My
T-39A model serial No 24461 had semi matt white top and the remaining metal
finish except the tail, nose and wing tip areas that carried the high visibility
Day-Glo orange/red areas. The kit was first given several coats of semi matt
white to the upper deck and to the areas that were to be in day-glow. These were
then carefully masked with Tamiya masking tape and the rest of the model were
airbrushed with a two coats of silver mixed with a few drops of white some 15%
gloss varnish and thinner. These were all mixed in cup before spraying. After
allowing 24 hours to dry the white and dayglo areas had the masking uncovered
bringing a striking looking T-39 contrast colour finish. Finally the wireless of
the radio aerial that runs along the fuselage was added using a length of
invisible thread. I then applied the USAF wording and numerals as well the dark
blue cheat line which separates the white top from the silver lower that were on
the aircraft using Micro Scale brand of decals and insignias.
The
final result was quite pleasing and the kit was placed inside the show case next
to other models carrying the vivid colours of the mid 60s. The kit is still
available on the market under the brand of Airmodel, or Roberts Model of Pa,
among the list of Combat Models. Although basic it is worth the effort needed by
those who are keen on models of trainer and transport aircraft of the world
armed forces.
The
EB57E is an Airfix B6 modified to B-57 using vacform Airmodel nose change from
the original B6 type. The RB-57A is an Italeri B-57 with a new Aeroclub
vacform nose change.
Carmel J Attard
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