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Cessna T-37 Tweet

🇺🇸 United States ·first flew 1954· military trainer aircraft

🎖️ military 2× jet ✓ still flying
10 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
  1. 1. Cessna T-37B Tweety Bird USAF: Wikimedia Commons· Public domain
  2. 2. Bangladesh Air Force T-37B and PT-6. (34414349122): Shadman Samee from Dhaka, Bangladesh· CC BY-SA 2.0
  3. 3. South Korean t37: Nighthaze3320· CC BY-SA 4.0
  4. 4. T-37 020925-F-9999s-0014: Unknown author Unknown author· Public domain
  5. 5. T-37 021203-O-9999G-003: Staff Sgt. Andy Dunaway· Public domain
  6. 6. T-37 AP: No machine-readable author provided. SoAres assumed (based on copyright claims).· CC BY-SA 2.5
  7. 7. An aerial close up view of a US Air Force T-37 Tweet aircraft from the 71st Flying Training Wing, 8th Flying Training Squadron "Eightballers" Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma. The T-3 - DPLA - ed93b9889df147ed6f773ee78611e45e: Department of Defense. American Forces Information Service. Defense Visual Information Center. 1994· Public domain
  8. 8. Cessna T-37... Tweety Bird (318), Pakistan - Air Force AN1182713: Konstantin von Wedelstaedt· GFDL 1.2
  9. 9. EF-111 with Korean T-33 and T-37 1985: MSgt. David Craft, USAF· Public domain
  10. 10. J-396 (cessna T37): TRTPUWU· CC BY-SA 4.0
Read about it on Wikipedia ↗
Cessna T-37 Tweet, photo 1 of 10
1/10 Wikimedia Commons· Public domain

what is it?

The Cessna T-37 Tweet (designated Model 318 by Cessna) is a small, economical twin-engine jet trainer aircraft. It was flown for decades as a primary trainer of the United States Air Force (USAF) as well as in the air forces of several other nations. The T-37 was developed in response to the launch of the "Trainer Experimental (TX)" program for the United States Air Force (USAF) in early 1952.

How to recognise it: 2 jet engines · 10.3 m wingspan

base stats

  • speed 684 km/htop speed
  • size 2,982 kgmax take-off weight
  • built 1,269made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

  • First flew 72 years ago, in 1954.
  • Top speed is 5.3× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
  • Wingspan of 10.3 m: about 2 cars parked nose to tail.
  • Can fly 1.3× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

jet: Gas turbine pushing air out the back (turbofan or turbojet): fast and high-flying.

spec sheet

first flight
1954-10
introduced
1957
retired
2009
status
still flying
number built
1,269
role
military trainer aircraft
origin
🇺🇸 United States
makers
Cessna
engines
2× Continental-Teledyne J69-T-25
crew
2
length
8.9 m
wingspan
10.3 m
height
2.8 m
max take-off weight
2,982 kg
top speed
684 km/h
cruise speed
579 km/h
range
—
ceiling
11,796 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.

Sources: Wikidata Q495337, Wikipedia: Cessna T-37 Tweet (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.

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