A static display T-38A Talon trainer recently joined the Vance AFB, Okla., airpark thanks to funds raised by the surrounding community of Enid, Okla., base officials announced. Vance received Talon serial number 65-10325 from the Museum of Aviation at Robins AFB, Ga., and plans to repaint the aircraft in the 1990’s color scheme of Vance’s 71st Flying Training Wing, which still operates a squadron of upgraded T-38C. Vance’s airframe formerly served the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB, Calif., as a test and chase platform until it retired to Robins in 2004, according to the museum. The T-38 will join the airpark’s historical lineup of training aircraft flown by training units at Vance including a BT-13, T-6, T-28, T-33, T-41, and T-37 already on display. Vance units began flying the T-38 in 1963. The trainer went on display on Nov. 1.
The Air Force awarded a $13.08 billion contract to the Sierra Nevada Corporation on April 26 for its Survivable Airborne Operations Center aircraft, the successor to the service’s E-4B “Doomsday” plane. Like the E-4B, officially called the National Airborne Operations Center, the SAOC will be meant to withstand a nuclear attack and keep…