"A" special trainer Published March 12, 2007 By John Murphy 80th Flying Training Wing Historian SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- If someone looked out onto the Sheppard flight line, they would see two types of aircraft; the blue-and-white T-37 Tweet and the sleek, multi-colored T-38 Talon. To the untrained eye, that is all you see. For the men and women of the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training community, they see more. A closer look would enable someone to see that there are two variations of the T-38 airframe. But they'd gave to look fast, because all that is about to change. The last ENJJPT student T-38A Talon sortie began March 1 at 3:05 p.m. 2nd Lt. Christopher Gausepohl, a student in the ENJJPT program, and Maj. Darrel Dunn, an instructor pilot from the 97th Flying Training Squadron, flew the single-ship, instrument sortie. In this international environment, it was only fitting that the airframe, give this historical distinction, belonged to the German Air Force, tail number 66-4348. As Lieutenant Gausepohl guided the aircraft into its parking spot after the 70-minute flight, the "A" model trainer became a part of Sheppard history. The T-38A variant has two seats in tandem for the student and instructor. It accounted for more of the 1,187 T-38s built by the Northrop Corporation. The first T-38A arrived at Sheppard Dec. 22, 1966. They were originally used for GAF Undergraduate Pilot Training and the Military Assistance training programs. They have been used by ENJJPT since the programs inception in October 1981. As of March 1, Sheppard had 27 T-38A models. The T-38As are still in the Air Force's inventory, but are no longer used for student pilot training here. The last model "A" is scheduled to depart Sheppard this May.