In
the early 1950s, the U.S. Air Force was looking for a turbojet
trainer and Cessna answered with a straight-wing, two-seat
side-by-side, twin-engine design. The prototype XT-37
first flew in 1954. Known as the Tweety Bird or Tweet
almost 1,300 had been built by the time production ended in 1977.
The T-37 was also adapted for the
counter-insurgency (COIN) role. Modified with more powerful
engines and underwing hardpoints, delivery of A-37 Dragonflys
began in 1967. The Dragonfly saw action in Vietnam.
Almost 600 A-37s were built.
