US's Most Unexpected Combat Plane with a Deadly Sound 

My dad started flying combat in the B model. Loved the plane, he latter got bumped back up to the F-4 for combat missions. After he retired from the Air Force he went out and actually bought one and had it restored. He still loves flying it.

My high school history teacher, Col. Watt G. Hill Jr. flew one of these in Vietnam. He brought in tapes of one of his sorties to class and we got to listen to it. When he said that he was flying a Cessna, I had thought that he was flying a typical high wing Cessna such as a 182, so I was confused. :) This was in 1974 or 1975 at Air Academy High School on the grounds of the Air Force Academy. Col. Hill also fought in WWII as well as Korea. He has a interview up over at the Library of Congress if you care to listen to it. Over the years I had tried to track him down from time to time. But it wasn't until I came across a FB post that asked about him using his full name was I able to make any progress. From there it was a piece of cake, and I gave him a call. The first thing that he wanted to know is if I was doing fine. That's the Col. Hill that I remembered. :) His next comment was "I'm glad that you didn't wait much longer!" Sadly he passed away this year in January. I'm glad that I didn't either.

One can say that the A-37 was the forerunner of the A-10.

We had a ton of these at Howard AFB in Panama in the late Eighties. We just called 'em Tweets. THE USAF was still using them for training in the 90's. Who'd have thought it? An attack plane built by Cessna.

I was at Bien Hoa Vietnam for a year in1969-1970. I remember the A37s , I was surprised how small they were. I was an aircraft radio repairman.

I was in high school when my father was the Ops Officer and then Commander of a squadron of A-37Bs at Bien Hoa AB. Thanks for the memories...

Would've never known about this plane if wasn't for my Uncle, Lt. Col. Gregory Hammond. He flew it Vietnam. I was a very small boy but never forgot him talking about and I even got a model of it from Revell. By the time he retired as a Lt. Col., he had been Squadron Base Commander in Iraq flying the F-15A Strike Eagle. Anytime I've shown that Super Tweet to anyone, they've nearly always doubted the story of it's use in Vietnam. They thought the A4 was the only jet.

The super tweet was a beast

I always thought these planes would make great little private jet if built for civilian use.

Cessna should have made a civilian model of this. They probably would have sold a ton of them.

When I flew this in 1982 as an Instructor Pilot, more than a few tweets on the flight line were older than I was (born in 1955). The engines were dangerously slow to wind up from idle (14 seconds!!!!), but it flew like a dream. Flying the tweet is like making love to a pig: It's fun while you're doing it, but you still don't want your friends to see.

I can confirm that these motors were loud as heck. Another loud plane was the T-39 Saberliner. I never heard a B-66, but the A-3 was also loud.

They became pretty popular with South and Central American Air Forces.

My Dad instructed in the T-37 at Reese AFB near Lubbock, Texas in the mid-late 60's. He called them 'Converters' because they converted fuel directly into noise with thrust as a byproduct. He also said they were so slow that they were the only AF jets that had bird strikes from the rear.

I was in the Air Force Art Program a lotta years ago and got two "orientation rides" in this plane, based in Peoria Illinois. I got to fly a lot of one of the rides, and being a pilot, I got 1.3 hours dual in my logbook. Great to see this video, love that little plane!

This Cessna is amazing. I have never heard of it. I was so interested in this short documentary. Thank you to anyone involved in the making of this video. I really enjoyed it even if the context is about war and the lethal aspects of military aviation.

The "Tweety Bird". Great aircraft !

The T/A-37 and B-66 . . . the only two aircraft that would destroy your hearing no matter what you did to prevent it.

Back in the late 70’s when I was stationed at Barksdale AFB in Shreveport,La we had A-37’s in our reserve unit. Used to see them all the time. They eventually transitioned to the A-10. Huge improvement.

Excellent recap!! But one BIG observation, you mentioned the role of this amazing aircraft in South America, but you failed to mention one country and Air Force that the majority of your images are from : URUGUAY and de Uruguayan Air Force. I think those espectacular tapes from SUMU and the 2nd Squadron deserve to be mentioned! Thanks!! That was my SQUADRON!!

I remember seeing the A-37 flying on nearly a daily basis out of Hancock Field in the late 70's

"Other fighters were proven here, in the states. That's not the case, with the A-37. This aircraft went over, to prove itself in combat". That my friends, is called 'Baptism by fire'!! "Where it remains active, as of 2024". A 65+ year old jet, that STILL sees service?? Yes, I'd say, that's successful😉👍!!

There was a squadron of A-37s at NJAS Williow Grove when I was a kid in the 80's right before they transitioned to the A-10. Very cool aircraft.

the Air Force has gone through a lot of money trying to find a replacement for A-37B in the low intensity roll. But none have its attributes. The answer is in front of them, but they are blind.

The T-37 is remarkably similar to the CT-114 Tutor the Canadian Snowbirds demo team flies.

The T-37 was chosen because it is cheap and can be easily convert to A-37 with minor modification. The Air Tractor AT-802 follow this tradition from crop duster to COIN aircraft.

I absolutely loved the Dragonfly, as a once huge model builder and still am a aviation and war history lover i built the Dragonfly and learnt everything about it in the ssme process as i have with every other model while building them, and dragonfly along with the OV10 Bronco was some of my fav builds, ive built literally every aircraft apart from whats been developed in the last 10 yrs or so, thank you for this awesome doc on this amazing little aircraft, ✌ from South Africa 🇿🇦

Absolutely refreshing to see complete reality and humble honesty. This is straight reality. Thank you for being a beacon of fact for many seeking truth in a world of utter BS. Well done bud, in oh so many ways! Your life journey is now helping others by personally al example. Good for you!

Quite similar to the jet proverst the RAF used as a jet trainer. Exported as the BAC strikemaster.

When OA-37 B was deactivated, I was assigned to the last active UASF unit: the 23 TASS at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ. From 1987 to 1988, we transitioned into the OA-10A as FAC aircraft.

Excellent! Thank you!!

I worked with a S. Vietnamese man who flew these planes. I hadn't heard of them until then, Hein even brought a model he made of one. That's when it hit me how little I knew about the war and started reading some books about it.

There was a T-37 at Grissom AFB near Peru here in Indiana when I was a resident in the VA Medical system in the late 80s/early 90s, and I was doing a rotation at the base clinic for primary care experience. The flight surgeon used it to get his flight hours in. I remember watching him take off one day, and wishing I could have been going up in it with him.

I remember hearing about these as trainers back in the 60s. I always thought they were a neat looking little plane. I never knew they were used in combat.

I really like your channel, thanks!

Cessna? Those guys were in the wrong business. That little A-37 Dragonfly was a bad ass. Too bad Cessna's out of business now. They ceased operations in 2014.

My uncle flew the A-37 in 1974 for close air support. Finally finished his command in the t-38.

I remember the dark blue ones (training version) flying patterns around Texas A&M campus in the late 1980's! (I think now, the campus made a great, and likely fun, location for Rectangular Course - Ground Reference Maneuvers) I always enjoyed watching them.

the Arkansas AG was flying one in 1993, one night sparky and I were doing an airfield lighting inspection and had the chance to talk to the two guys flying it. I asked them if it was as fun to fly as it looked like it was and both grinned ear to ear and said it was funner than we could dream!

This is a cool little plane, and dare I say it, quite good looking.

Never mentioned was the A-37s assigned to the Air National Guard. Stationed at Battle Creek ANGB, MI, we converted from Cessna 0-2s to the A-37B for our Forward Air Control (FAC) missions in the early 80s. I performed Weapons Loading and Weapons Release for this bird. It wasn't easy, or comfortable, to work on as its compact size made for cramped quarters. I laughed at their mention of how it could fly from "unimproved airfields". The engine intake was less than 2 feet off from the ground and it proved to be an efficient vacuum for FOD (Foreign Object Damage). Much of my hearing loss was from this aircraft's 2 screaming engines. The hearing protection provided by the USAF was less than effective. The pilots did love flying these.

Great overview of this aircraft.

Great documentary! Just one minor correction, near to the end you mention the F4 but the footage is of an A7 Corsair II.

...Bien Hoa, is is where one of my brothers was stationed in the early 70s. The A-37 was a remarkable little jet

The Portuguese airforce had an aerobatic squad flying T-37s for many years and the guys really got all out of those machines. It was called 'Asas de Portugal' (Wings of Portugal).

1:27 - TRAINING WHEELS landing gear? Oh so close, Sherlock. But it's actually TRICYCLE landing gear. Because the landing gear is configured like that of a child's tricycle. With one wheel in front (the "nose" gear) and two wheels behind (the "main" gear).

The Peoria ANG flew them on the late 70’s and 80’s. Saw them flying all the time.

While stationed at Edwards, I had the opportunity to take a ride in a A-37. The pilot let me fly it. We did some aerobatics and a simulated bomb run. It was so much fun. I was scheduled to take a ride in a T-38 but it had problems the day before my flight so we took the A-37 instead. Glad we did.

In the early 70's we referred to the A-37 as Tweety Bird. My favorite as a 431 Crew Chief was the F4E hands down.

In 1963 serving in the Air Force at Mc Connell AFB Wichita, KS. I was assigned to Transit Alert. Those are the guys with broader skills that can work on almost every type that may visit Mc Connell. As a result, I believe I was the only one with the T 37 on my Taxi card. That was until one day while taxing one to Compass Rose I was caught taxing at 5 feet AGL. (Above Ground Level) The tower called me on it and that was the last time I got to; shall we say taxi this really neat bird. Damn that shadow! They are so easy to fly and control!

She was built at the Cessna plant in Wichita, Ks. I watched some early test flight takeoffs. Very impressive little bird for sure!

...we had on if these show up at our airport (for an airshow at Pratt & Whitney) at the Sikorsky facility in West Palm, Beach, FL...that little bastard was LOUD!!!

The high pitched squeal mentioned was not true of the A-37, which had the J-85 instead of the J-69. The J-69 squeal of the T-37 was not from the turbine, but from the centrifugal compressor.

these planes were located at Air Nation Guard Essex, Md. They were replaced by the A10 in the early 80s. They are still there today, what an upgrade.

Imagine if the gau 19 in 50 cal had been an option for the gun. Or a 3 or 4 barrel version of the m61

Great video 👍👍

Cessna is an American icon. I learned to fly in their aircraft and I never looked back. Cessna should be awarded the Medal of Freedom by a real patriotic president. FJB!

Compared to the f100d we were used to it looked like a toy. But the crews loved it.

I worked avionics on the A-37 in the late 80 and early 90s. I was fortunate to be given a ride in one. It was fun, but it is a rough ride in the seat.

My student pilot class did not find the tweet easy to solo. Nearly a third of a class of 64 students that began, washed out in 1965. I disliked the first generation jet, which took forever to spool up. No body in my class washed out flying the t-38. After I finished my activer duty, I wanted to join a Reserve unit. I had a chance to fly an A-37 with the j-85 engines, the same as were in the T-38 without AB. Without the noise of the original, and almost instant thrust repunse, my class would probably graduated most of the students. I decided to fly a C-123K in a reserve unit. It had added two j-85's on pods , and after flying a KC-135 on active duty, liked the idea of getting up and walking around on a flight.

SuperTweet 👍😁 Imagine if Cessna made an A-10 Warthog 😜

We had these at Mather AFB. We called them T-37 tweets, the jet engine noise permanently damaged my hearing, and I DID wear hearing protection around them.

I learned to fly in a T-37. It was a great trainer and a fun airplane to fly. It's only problem was that it was a bit under-powered. I (and every other student) thought that what it really needed was the J-85 of the T-38. That would be just the perfect acrobatic airplane. The A-37 was that airplane. The pilots who flew those were much luckier than many people understand.

I called in this CAS aircraft many times, and it was excellent.

Got to see 2 while stationed at Udorn RTAFB in 71

Quantity is its own quality. Its known that had several countries purchased far cheaper aircraft than the hyper-expensive war birds they did buy, they could have fielded tens of thousands at a time and simply overwhelmed the enemy.

Liked the Corsair at 8:33. 😄

During the festivities in RVN in 1969-70 I got to see a lot of ground attack operations.. Tweety Birds were the funnest to watch. Cruising along then suddenly going almost vertical in a dive to target then pop right back up to cruising around again. Almost as much fun to watch were B57s.

Well, propeople, how did you do it? What modifications did you install into the XR1200 to increase the top speed form 122 mph to 146 mph? Please explain.

Very fine video about The Great Tweet! The Portuguese Air Force operated more than twenty T-37C from 1963 to the mid nineties and she was the aircraft of the _Asas de Portugal_ aerobatic team, which was based 15 km from where I live. I saw them passing thousands of times and saw dozens of training aerobatic formation flights . 😍 You could not plug a G-suit in a T-37, and that made for quite demanding flights. In case you'd like to see what a common T-37C - six actually - can do in skilled hands, search _Rolling in the skies - Asas de Portugal_ right here on YT, a wonderfully made Japanese documentary from 1990. I won't provide the link because they're systematically deleted. Worth see. 😀

that C 141 S ("S" for Starlifter) was the most powerful plane/ weapon i ever saw , it was our jet back then, it dropped iirc 180 troops into battle from the sky , smart b*mbs, the dogs of war, the enforcers....edit: beautiful plane too awesome, thanks for the vid ...

Never heard of the plane. First I thought it was some sort of 'alternative Universe' video, I had to check if it really existed or not... 😂 But it did! What a great aircraft! I really like it. My favourite type of aircrafts are the cheap and simple COIN birds. Thanks!

I saw one at Alameda Naval Air Station in the early 80s. It was being used by the Canadian (airforce?) as a trainer and had put in on a long cross country training flight. Unfortunately a storm blew in and it was marooned with wheel damage, but it was flown out in a few days so it must be a tough little bird. I was told it was referred to as a 4 ton dog whistle (?), but that doesn't seem to match the specs. Looked cool anyway.

As a kid I'd ride my bicycle between these planes parked at Albrook AFB in Panama, my father instructor IAAFA in 70s. Impressive even just parked.

This was the aircraft being flown by Air Force 1LT Michael Blassie when he was shot down over Vietnam in 1972. Blassie's remains were interred at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington as the Vietnam War representative. His remains were later identified and re-interred at Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis, his hometown.

I learnt to fly in a Cessna , I never knew they had this lil Super Tweet.

I didnt know they were still flying, thanks.

Bet this thing would still be solid to this day..

Interesting Aircraft. 🇺🇸

Seems like these little stingers could still be useful in the US Arsenal today on certain specific missions. Especially if they upgraded that mini-gun to a more powerful rotating 20mm or 30mm auto cannon. They could also fit the most up to date missiles and avionics having a right seat weapons officer on board full time who could also act as a co-pilot, communications, and electronic warfare/weapons systems officer. These little super birds seem to be a very useful aircraft (also economical). It's a wonder the U.S. Armed Forces don't use a lot more of these little aircraft. Especially since just about every US Armed Forces Pilot (Even helicopter pilots) have some initial training in the Tweet trainer aircraft. That makes it a lot easier to train pilots on the combat model which seems to be just as capable as the A-10 Warthog although the Warthog is probably a lot more robust to sustain battle damage than these birds are. Still, sending in an entire squadron of these little things would without a doubt wreak havoc! Being so cheap, you could send in ten times the amount of planes. Imagine seeing 250 of these things coming in for a combined air and ground attack operation! Good gosh, the enemy would bank and turn, hitting the afterburners to run away! If they could figure out the weight issues, this little plane could be one of the most effective in the entire US Armed Forces light attack, ground attack, urban attack, strike and run missions, or any other type of mission where a small, fast, heavily armed (adding the auto cannons and hard points) aircraft could be used to devastating effect. These are also easy aircraft to learn to fly and master and the fact they have unimproved landing strip capability (which many U.S. fighter and ground attack aircraft do not have the ability to do), are easy to repair and maintain compared to more complex ultra high end fighters and stealth fighters, these little thing actually make sense. It's a no wonder that many of the other nations around the world who don't have unlimited military funding but want to have a first class air force use these effective and low cost aircraft. Granted, you aren't going to go up against an F-16, F-22, or F-35 (or many other aircraft in the US and other nations inventories, but, again, for a nation on a budget, who want top notch multi-role and cost effective military aircraft, these fit the bill nicely. Even the US is re-thinking their US military aircraft inventory as of late, looking for ways to reduce the extraordinary costs associated with operating such advanced and world leading fighters, bombers, and interceptors. These have led to the more recent acquisitions in the US of the small propellor driven crop dusters turned into twin seat, heavily armored ground attack and light attack roles. The US and other nations are realizing there is still a place for low cost combat aircraft such as the Dragonfly as well as a myriad of other low cost (but highly effective in combat) aircraft including airplane drones, helicopter drones, fighter jet drones, even more recently submarine drones, as well as revisiting lower cost manned aircraft of all types but fitting these lower cost manned aircraft with the same advanced electronic and weapon technology of their much more expensive siblings.

Hilarious aircraft nomenclature pronunciation.

Cessna still probably has the molds The airforce should buy a thousand of them

I watched them fly out of Bein Hoa and later build piston Cessnas along side the A-37 assembly line. Also, the A-37 did not have the high pitch sound that gave the name Tweet (we called them Tweetybirds). The sound came from the centrifugal compressor on the engine of the T-37. The A-37 with the axial compressor engine did not make the same sound.

It reminds me of the scorpion that had pods on each wing tip with rockets. Medusa Lodge in Wing structures a very similar.

Dear bro... Most of the current videos are from the Uruguayan Air Force. (current system operator) We will not charge you royalties but we appreciate mention... haha Thanks for your excellent video brother... regards...

In truth I know very little about the A-37 and even less regarding the "super tweet" as I always knew it as a very good trainer! I never thought how it was so effective in COIN warfare and how it was a dream for me ground crew to maintain it. In my opinion it should have been kept flying for the USAF together with the A-10... BTW I just subscribed because I always find your videos very interesting 👍👍👍👍

These aircraft supported the 1st. CAV out of Bien Hoa when I was in RVN. We called them "noise producers".

Dragonfly was such a cool aircraft

I have always wanted a dragonfly. Side by side allows you to fist bump your copilot after a "good show". 😁

A little unpretentious beauty !

The Tweet is neat.

The A-37 operated at the 910 AFR TFG in Youngstown, Ohio. Nobody called it the "tweet".

I was at Laughlin AF Base from 75 to 79 and this was a flight training base. The T38s were at one end of flight line and the T37s were at the other end. We almost always refueled both sides of lane going toward The aair strip and a tight turn around and refuel the opposite side going back to the road out. These T37s were almost always running when we refueled them making an almost unbearable loud screaming noise. That and the fact that you have around 30 of them running took ear plugs and ear muffs that didn't help much. I have bad tinnitus from those screaming buggers.

I wonder if there are any for sale now in flying condition? Would be an interesting plane to fly .

It's a long due recognition. A notation though, you have included MANY Uruguayan Air Force A37B (flag with horizontal BLUE/WHITE/BLUE and a diagonal RED) ... BUT didn't mention it on the Latin America reference. Nevertheless, great job and thank you.

Best ground handling of any aircraft - ever. That thing is a Jaguar on the ramp.

Remember seeing this model kit in a local drug store, way back when they had model airplanes. Thought it was a so abnormal yet cool. At the time, 30 or so years ago I didn't realize it was an actual military air craft. The reason I never bought it.

At Tyndall AFB, Fl. in the late 1970s, we had "transient" aircraft coming thru often. We'd sometimes have a conga line of T-37 trainers taxi by our F-101, F-106 and T-33 flightlines as they taxied out to the runway. Those little b-turds were LOUD! I ended up losing a lot of my higher frequency hearing. 😮

I used to work with a guy that had flown these in Illinois air guard - he was deaf as a post !

Every time I see a shot from below I think of the A-10.