[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

The Air Force has since released the names of the two killed pilots: Maj. Blair Faulkner, an instructor pilot with the 43rd Flying Training Squadron, and his trainee, 2nd Lt. Matthew Emmons.

[ThePythonicCow]

Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi -- I flew out of there. A long time ago ... once ... before I realized that I was not meant to be a pilot.

[exit82]

May God bless them and their families.

There is always danger in the military. Always.

And there are people in this country who can’t even acknowledge the service these men and women give each day,even at the risk of giving their lives for their countrymen.

[sinanju]

Um, how old are the “C-model” airframes?

[xJones]

How very sad. May God comfort their families.

[Parley Baer]

“The four pilots ejected safely from the two T-6 Texan aircraft”

I had no idea that the T-6 Texan was still in service.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

T-38C, I think?

[RDTF]

So sorry to hear this. Thanks for posting.

[RDTF]

T-38s are used in the scenes when they are training the crew in the movie ‘Armageddon’

[NonValueAdded]

Such a beautiful aircraft.

[tgusa]

Prayers for their loved ones ...

“Lord, guard and guide the men who fly
Through the great spaces in the sky,
Be with them always in the air,
In dark’ning storms or sunlight fair.
O, Hear us when we lift our prayer,
For those in peril in the air.”
Amen.

[jagusafr]

The 43rd is one of my former squadrons under the 340th Flying Training Group at Randolph. Reserve IPs teaching active duty flying training. A great unit with a tremendous safety record - what a tragedy.

Colonel, USAFR

[Da Coyote]

I got my wings there. Later, I was an instructor in the T-38 at the Test Pilot School. It’s a beautiful plane, but one must watch the airspeed very carefully. Note that there ain’t much wing there and the stall characteristics are very subtle... small amount of shaking - normal, just a little more shaking - full stall. Final approach speed was 175 knots plus fuel wait (1 knot per 100 lbs over 1000 I believe). Final approach was 155 knots plus fuel. Go lower than those limits, and it’s a rock.

[Atlas Sneezed]

To me, T-38s are famed for being the "Astronaut Jet."

From Apollo to Shuttle.

(Jim Lovell)

Shuttle astronauts still pilot them today. Apollo astronauts that would have walked on the moon were killed in a crash of them. And one figures into the "lovelorn diaper astronaut story."