NASA Northrop T-38N Talon.
Registration: N903NA.
Construction number: N.5547.
The T-38 was designed in the mid '50s as a training variant of the N-156, the F-5 Freedom Fighter, a light fighter-bomber. The aircraft was developed by the Northrop Corporation and although the U.S. Air Force did not need a light attack aircraft at the time, there was interest in using the aircraft as a trainer, this as a replacement for the ageing Lockheed T-33.
Three prototypes were built, the first of which flew on 10 March 1959. The aircraft was soon commissioned and production began in 1961. Some 1,200 aircraft were built in about 11 years. Many thousands of military pilots have flown this training aircraft.
Another organisation using the T-38 is NASA, which uses the the aircraft to train its astronauts.
This picture was taken on 29 November 2021 at Ellington Airport, Houston, Texas. This airport is home to NASA with a unit of T-38's, among others.
I am Jaap van den Berg and photography has become a great passion of mine since 2010. Since then I travel all over the world to take pictures of military aircrafts. But besides aircraft I also love to photograph other subjects like landscapes, architecture, flowers, animals, .. Read more…