Navy's 150th T-45 jet due at NAS today
By Staff
Special to The Star
Aug. 8, 2002
The Navy's 150th T-45 Goshawk aircraft will be flown to its permanent home at NAS Meridian today after an acceptance ceremony at the Boeing factory in St. Louis.
A Navy spokesman said Capt. Mark S. Needler, commodore of Training Air Wing One at NAS Meridian, will fly the jet to its home base, where it will be assigned to Training Squadron Seven. The chief of Naval Air Training, Rear Adm. John E. Boyington, Jr., will accept the plane on behalf of the Navy when it is delivered in St. Louis.
The T-45 Goshawk is used by the Naval Air Training Command in the undergraduate strike training program on board NAS Meridian and NAS Kingsville, Texas. It is a two-seat carrier-capable aircraft used for the intermediate and advanced portions of the demanding Navy/Marine Corps pilot training program for jet carrier aviation and tactical strike missions.
Two versions of T-45 aircraft are currently in operational use, the T-45A and T-45C. The T-45A contains an analog design cockpit while the T-45C incorporates the digital "glass cockpit" design.
On the Web: For more information about the T-45 Goshawk, visit https://www.cnatra.navy.mil.