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Description
| Notes: Military version of commercial sabreliner CARGO-CONFIGURED T-39A. | ||
| Manufacturer: | North American | |
| Base model: | T-39 | |
| Designation: | CT-39 | |
| Version: | E | |
| Nickname: | Sabreliner | |
| Designation System: | U.S. Air Force | |
| Designation Period: | 1948-Present | |
| Basic role: | Trainer | |
| Modified Mission: | Transport | |
| See Also: | ||
Specifications
| Length: | 43' 9" | 13.3 m | |
| Height: | 16' | 4.8 m | |
| Wingspan: | 44' 6" | 13.5 m | |
| Wingarea: | 342.0 sq ft | 31.7 sq m | |
| Empty Weight: | 9,845 lb | 4,464 kg | |
| Max Weight: | 18,650 lb | 8,458 kg | |
Propulsion
| No. of Engines: | 2 | ||
| Powerplant: | Pratt & Whitney JT12A-8 | ||
| Thrust (each): | 3,300 lb | 1,496 kg | |
Performance
| Range: | 2,118 miles | 3,410 km | |
| Max Speed: | 563 mph | 906 km/h | 489 kt |
| Climb: | 4,800 ft/min | 1,462 m/min | |
| Ceiling: | 40,000 ft | 12,191 m | |
Operators (Past and Present)
| USN | VRC-30 | North Island | CA |
| USN | VRC-40 | Norfolk | VA |
| USN | VRC-50 | Cubi Point | RP |
Known serial numbers
Recent comments by our visitors
| Drew (Andy) Pitcher Oklahoma City,, OK | I was was a Flight Crew in the CT-39E from 1970-1975, we flew missions from Atsugi Japan to Singapore, Hong Kong, Cubi Point, Taipai, Taiwan, Saigon, Danang, Soul Korea, Guam and other places.
I remember a Bird strike once at Cubi Point that went into the co-pilots seat and destroyed the circuit breaker panel above his seat.. he lived and we got the plane to the ground but he was hurt pretty bad. I remember we had " Crews " at that time for a time and when our plane rolled in no matter what time these guys would come down and fix that plane as quickly as possible. It was a great system and the planes seemed to be UP about 90% of the time. I remember on one flight I slept in the Aircraft in Danang it was around Christmas time and we had two things that were bound for Atsugi Japan the next day. One was a case of San Miguel beer and the other was Top Secret documents. I remember that about 3 a.m. the door to my Acft opened and this shadow came up the stairs. I was sleeping armed with a 45 at the back of the Acft. When he came up I cocked the weapon and told him he needed to back out of the Acft and close the door or die where he stood. He said " Hey Man, it's ok.. the just told me to come on out and get that case of San Miguel. I said you have about 10 seconds to back out of here " 1 " .. out he went and we never did find out who was dumb enough to come out to the Acft. that morning. Another time we had taken off from Danang and was headed for who knows where with no passengers and I was up front and the co-pilot looked at me and said " I think we're in trouble "... I said what's wrong and he said we've been flying in the wrong direction for about 20 min. So far as I can tell we are about 30 miles inside of the DMZ. We flipped the plane sideways and back we flew saying Look out for missles...lol. We made it without incident but I picked up the nickname of Wrong way Pitcher.. don't know why.. it wasn't my fault. lol. Those were the days..for sure..many more stories I remember but if you would like more let me know. Take care and fly safe. Drew 10/27/2011 @ 06:30 [ref: 49793] |
| Mark Hoekstra , MD | VR-48 Out of Sigonella, Sicily used to fly the T-39 as well 03/18/2011 @ 06:35 [ref: 36881] |
| LCDR Liz Steinnecker, USN, ret. Pensacola, Fl, FL | Hi Aviation Enthusiast let me clear up some miss information.
We were on a Ferry missionw which had a new Omega installed incorrectly I might add thus the ditiching at sea It was my aircraft Commander check ride I passed We did not run out of fuel we did a controlled ditching I wrote the Natops on how to ditch the T-39 I was pregant with twins and cleared to fly but gave birth to our son Rigel now 22 In the life raft the were shotting at us they did not treat us good at all. At any given time we thought they were going to kill us and you all would have thought we died in the crash. The second night on the Friget not a fishing vessel but active North Viet. Naval Vessel the CO of the ship wanted to rape me he was convinced not to by the ships Dr I was in his state room when this occured he had a GUN on his desk that I was thinking of using. I am not from Tampa but born in New York and raised in Pompano Beach, FL. I flew a direct flight from Cubi to Guam with my Skipper. You can't go direct to Hawii. 01/22/2011 @ 08:40 [ref: 35848] |
| stuart hart , NE | the story of the t-39 that had to ditch in the sea, well I heard a differant version of when and how they were picked up by the vietmanise. and the real treatment they recived. it was from mike and liz from there own lips. so who,s story is fiction and who,s is fact. 09/19/2010 @ 10:22 [ref: 30262] |
| Mike Schaffer Tampa, FL | I personally recall on July 12, 1988 while working at NSGA (Naval Security Group Activity) Clark AFB, Philippines a NAVAID (Navigational Aid) was issued on the Pacific HFDF (High Frequency Direction Finding) Net that a North American Sabreliner/CT-39E, 158381, 282-93, Ex N4701N, with American flight crew identified as Lt. Richard K. Maurer, 30, of Harvyes Lake, Pa., the pilot; Lt.(j.g.) Elizabeth Steinnecker, 29, of Tampa, Fla., the co-pilot; and Petty Officer 1st Class Michael R. Neel, 34, of Albuquerque, N.M. had lost it's navigation instruments and was running low on jet fuel while over the the Spratly Island archipelago in the South China Sea. This mission was on a 1,449 miles route training flight from Singapore International Airport to Subic Bay Naval Station, Philippines. I was on watch that day manning the HF radio monitoring a certain frequency. To this day I still remember the crews detailed conversations with ATC in Hawaii about actions they will have to perform soon before the CT-39E gets fuel starved and crashes into the South China Sea. Later it was reported that the three aviators
were picked up by a Vietnamese fishing vessel and taken to Hanoi, North Vietnam in which were treated very kindly. A statement made by Lt. Maurer "We'd like to thank the Vietnamese navy for pulling us out of the sea and the Vietnamese government for their courtesy and hospitality". The US Navy aviators were flew into Cubi Point Naval Air Station, adjoining Subic Bay, Philippines on July 19 and were taken to a base hospital for checkups. The Navy said the aircraft ran out of fuel after missing a stop in Malaysia. I attached a photo of a North American Sabreliner/CT-39E transport aircraft for reference on the bottom of this page. Hope you enjoyed the story. 03/27/2010 @ 06:22 [ref: 25933] |
| melvin grimes Buffalo, NY | I got a chance to fly in a CT-39E after doing a emergency engine change in Okinawa, Japan in 1984. I was a AD with VRC-50. I did the engine change from the can to the plane overnight. By 8:00 AM the next morning with tech.rep who i believe his first name was Dwight, We finished rigging the controls and returned to Cubi pt. Philippines in less then 14 hours. 12/16/2009 @ 00:53 [ref: 25432] |
| Kim Shuger Everett, WA | I was in VRC-50 from 1971 to 1974, 26 monthes of which were in the PI. Having been an AME, I was to go up on a pressure check. The interior of the passenger compartment was stripped of evrything but one seat. As the AC approached altitude and press. was dialed in, I began my checks. Having found nothing wrong I gave the sign to the crew I was done. At this time the enlisted aircrewman looked at me and smiled. I buckled up and no sooner had I then the pilot turned the plane one it's wing tip and over we went from about 13000 ft. Quite a dive. Well, I had a headcold and at about 6000 or 7000 ft. my head felt like it would explode. I was screaming but no one could hear me. The aircrewman looked back again and saw I was in great pain and back up we went to 13000 ft. with a gradual stepping down to land. The next time I got in one of those was when I flew to Clark to come back stateside. At least the plane worked! 05/20/2004 @ 14:25 [ref: 7446] |
| E.Lepsik Barberton, OH | I was a T-39 Plane Captain from 1970-1972, I recall one trip from NAS Cubi Pt, RP, to NAS Atsugi Japan, non stop, over flew Okinawa, after discussion between pilots and myself. Iam going to look this up in my personal log,(if I can find it) I think we did this at 43K, it was real cold on that flight, this I remember, and nobody was on O2.
One other flight that sticks in my mind. Plane Capains did the yellow sheets, this flight out of Okinawa, no passengers, on the way home, I was in the back seat doing paperwork, had the oddest feelling after taking off, looked up to see the pilots looking back at me and laughing at my confusion, they had just rolled the plane. Check Natops, I still have my copy, the T-39 isn't suppose to be able to do this. 09/01/2001 @ 14:57 [ref: 3085] |
| Mark Felhofer San Antonio, TX | I can confirm what Don Garabedian stated. As I recall the story he told me at MOP in Barrio. After 7 San Miguels, the CT-39E flew direct to Hawaii and back,
Former CT-39E NATOPS Instructor, VRC-50 03/04/2001 @ 22:58 [ref: 1760] |
| Bob Harris , MN | First flew the N-265-40 at the FAA Academy during primary jet eval. course. Then flew the 80 model (CF-700 GE engines) in FAA flight inspection mission out of Battle Creek, MI for 2 years in late 80's. Gas hog but still a great airplane. Stable as a rock in all kinds of weather. 01/05/2001 @ 14:45 [ref: 1323] |
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