The Navy Finally Says Goodbye To The Tubby Little T-2 Buckeye Jet Trainer
It has served the Navy for 56 years, the vast majority of those years working as the service’s intermediate jet trainer. Thousands of Naval Aviators and Naval Flight Officers were introduced to jet operations in the T-2 over the years, with many pilots making their first carrier landings in the jet. Now, with just a few remaining in service at Naval Station Patuxent River, the T-2 Buckeye is finally leaving the inventory once and for all.
The T-2 Buckeye has never been considered a beautiful airplane. North American didn’t design it to be the sleekest thing in the sky. Instead they made it simple, reliable, and extremely tough so that it could take merciless beatings as students figured out their way around an aircraft carrier in a jet. It’s name was fairly straight forward, as all the T-2 Buckeyes, some 529 in total, were constructed at Air Force Plant 85 near Columbus, Ohio.
It has served the Navy for 56 years, the vast majority of those years working as the service’s intermediate jet trainer. Thousands of Naval Aviators and Naval Flight Officers were introduced to jet operations in the T-2 over the years, with many pilots making their first carrier landings in the jet. Now, with just a few remaining in service at Naval Station Patuxent River, the T-2 Buckeye is finally leaving the inventory once and for all.
The T-2 Buckeye has never been considered a beautiful airplane. North American didn’t design it to be the sleekest thing in the sky. Instead they made it simple, reliable, and extremely tough so that it could take merciless beatings as students figured out their way around an aircraft carrier in a jet. It’s name was fairly straight forward, as all the T-2 Buckeyes, some 529 in total, were constructed at Air Force Plant 85 near Columbus, Ohio.
