Tag Archives: T-2C Buckeye

Could Nimitz Become AVTN-68?

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Everyone’s favorite Disco vintage super carrier and almost-Kidō Butai vanquisher just transited to her new home at Norfolk after being the center of the Sail4th naval parade/International Naval Review 250/FLEETEX 250 in New York.

Note: she still has an MQ-25 Stingray CBARS demonstrator on her deck.

She pulled “back” into her new home at Norfolk yesterday, passing her docked sisters USS Eisenhower (CVN 69) and Truman (CVN 75). It is appropriate, as Norfolk was her original home from 1975 to 1987 before her West Coast days at Bremerton/Everett (1987-2001, 2012-2026) and San Diego (2001-2012).

USS Nimitz (CVN 68) arrives at Naval Station Norfolk (NSN), Virginia, July 9, 2026. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Frankie M. Guage)

The 51-year-old carrier departed Navy Base Kitsap (Bremerton) on 7 March and has spent the past four months in a series of goodwill port calls and exercises throughout the Americas for Operation South Seas, a fitting send-off for what is likely her final cruise under her own power.

But not so fast.

Captain Joseph Furco, Nimitz’s commanding officer, recently told a press conference that the old girl may have some life left in her, specifically as a training carrier.

But not just for Carrier Quals, but actually taking out crews of flattops that are long sidelined in construction or refit, to give them some underway time. Remind them what it is to be a CVN on the ocean.

“All of those [Kennedy] sailors have not had the opportunity to go to sea,” Capt Furco noted. “I can take this ship to sea with 1,000 sailors from Kennedy, or [carrier USS John] Stennis [(CVN 74)] or [carrier USS Harry S] Truman [(CVN 75)] with their extensive [scheduled maintenance] yard periods and give sailors a taste of what their job is like outside the academic setting.”

Those sailors would normally discuss their roles, such as controlling aircraft on a flight deck, in simulations, but with Nimitz the Navy “could get them out here controlling aircraft. You can get them down on the reactor and turn the dials and run the steam through the pipes”. Nimitz could help certify crews, platforms, and pilots, he said.

Designed in the 1960s and commissioned in 1975, Nimitz is slated to be inactivated in FY 2027, beginning the process of dismantling the ship, according to the Navy Shipbuilding Plan released in May.

Her fuel rod matrix, revitalized in her 37-month (1998-2001) Refueling and Complex Overhaul (RCOH), is on its last legs, and her AW4 reactors were only designed to be refueled once. A 142-page RAND report on the subject says the fuel is exhausted after 23 years, and it’s been 25 since CVN-68 completed her RCOH.

Still, Furco would be the person most qualified on the planet to know if his reactors are only filled with radioactive memories or there are still a couple of electrons in there with a “I didn’t hear no bell” attitude about them, so if he thinks 68 can still clock in for training missions, he is probably correct.

With that in mind, and acknowledging she can’t undertake another serious deployment into harm’s way, perhaps it is time to re-rate her as an AVT, akin to USS Forrestal’s 1992-93 retirement stint as AVT-59 and Lexington’s 1978-1991 run as AVT-16.

A Training Squadron 9 (VT-9) T-2C Buckeye aircraft takes to the air after performing a touch-and-go landing on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal October 10, 1991. PH1 Scott M. Allen 330-CFD-DN-ST-92-02118

T-2C Buckeye aboard USS Lexington (AVT-16) April 1989. U.S. Navy photograph 330-CFD-DN-ST-89-08969. Photographer Jim Bryant. Via NARA. National Archives Identifier: 6445247

Plus, such a move would allow a dedicated platform for T-45 Carrier Qualifications (CQ) for the next year or two, provided Nimitz could keep it up, freeing other CVNs from having to perform the task.

Her sister, Eisenhower, which just came out of overhaul, recently conducted 428 traps and 143 touch-and-go landings, qualifying 24 aviators over three days underway.

A U.S. Navy T-45C Goshawk jet trainer aircraft takes off from the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69), June 27, 2026. Eisenhower is underway in the Atlantic Ocean conducting carrier qualifications for student naval aviators assigned to Naval Air Training Command.(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Miguel Santiago)

U.S. Navy Lt. Miguel Smith launches a T-45C Goshawk jet trainer aircraft off of the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69), June 27, 2026. Eisenhower is underway in the Atlantic Ocean conducting carrier qualifications for student naval aviators assigned to Naval Air Training Command. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Miguel Santiago)

Further, it could help wring out the T-45’s remaining underway CQ potential, as the type is set to retire in the 2030-2035 time frame.

The two remaining contenders to replace the T-45, the SNC Freedom Jet and a Leonardo-Textron-Beechcraft M-346N, will not be carrier-capable, as the Navy’s new Undergraduate Jet Training System will eschew the traditional cats-and-traps evolutions for simulator work, because what can go wrong?

The SNC Freedom Jet and a Leonardo-Textron-Beechcraft M-346N. While the SNC trainer is a clean-sheet design, the M-346N is a navalized, American-built variant of the Italian Leonardo M-346 Master/Yak-130.

Foxtrot Zulu Milkshake

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The old ways: 

040303-N-6842R-025 Key West, Fla. (Mar. 3, 2004) Ð Lt. Allen Karlson, a student pilot assigned to the ÒTigersÓ of Training Squadron Nine (VT-9), with instructor Cdr. Joe Kerstiens (USNR) sits ÒshotgunÓ(rear seat) evaluating Lt. Allen Karlson before his solo formation training. 1st Lt. Tim Miller flies his T-2C Buckeye down to cross under the lead, on his first formation solo, during a formation training mission over Key West, Fla. VT-9 came to Key West to teach Navy and Marine Corps student pilots formation flying and gunnery techniques. The instructors are part of Squadron Augment Unit Nine (SAU-9), the Reserve component for Training Squadron Nine (VT-9), one of two training squadrons that operate from Naval Air Station Meridian, Miss., under Training Wing One (TW-1). U.S. Navy photo by Ens Darin K. Russell. (RELEASED)

U.S. Navy photograph 330-CFD-DN-ST-89-08969. Photographer Jim Bryant. Via NARA. National Archives Identifier: 6445247

In case you missed it, the Chief of Naval Air Training (CNATRA) last August announced they are ditching the classic white/orange/black/red scheme used by its aircraft for generations (since the mid-1950s) in favor of sort of a glossy faux tactical look.

From last year’s presser:

CNATRA utilizes four different type/model aircraft, with a fifth on the way, to support intermediate/advanced strike, intermediate/advanced multi-engine and advanced rotary training. These aircraft include the T-45C Goshawk, TH-57 Sea Ranger, TH-73 Thrasher (replacing the TH-57 Sea Ranger), and the T-44C Pegasus, soon to be replaced by the T-54A (King Air 260).

For these aircraft, the new paint scheme will utilize shades of a glossy grey coat to more closely resemble the tactical paint scheme (TPS) covering operational fleet aircraft. The shade of grey will closely resemble the specific counterpart for each training aircraft. For example, the coat of the TH-73 Thrasher will reflect the darker tactical paint scheme of the MH-60S Seahawk, while the T-54A will have a lighter coat similar to the P-8A Poseidon. Colored markings will contrast the grey paint for lettering and symbols like the United States roundel.

Additionally, the tail of each aircraft will feature a distinctive color scheme identifying the specific training air wing (TAW) an aircraft is assigned to, typically referred to as a tail “flash.”

Well, it looks like the first T-45s, those of Training Air Wing 2, have been repainted. 

The conversion will slow:

The new changes to CNATRA aircraft will be gradual. An aircraft will only receive its new paint when the current life cycle of its orange-and-white coat is nearly complete. This will result in the last orange-and-white paint coats disappearing in seven to eight years.

As with everything, there are mixed feelings, with many bringing up the fact that the high-viz livery was chosen to help visually deconflict airspace (and ground space!) and make spotting downed aircraft easier.

I’ve always been a fan of the old yellow-chrome “Yellow Peril” look from WWII for trainers and target tugs.

NAMU Johnsonville Curtiss SB2C Helldiver target tug.

N3N pictured at NAS Pensacola, NNAM photo

Sailor cranks the engine of an N3N training flight, circa 1941 Kodachrome NNAM

Stearman N3N-3 N2S trainers NAS Corpus Christi, TX WWII cadets

Harry Greene flies his Boeing Stearman Kaydet Primary Trainer airplane over the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility at Pearl Harbor, Oahu, May 30, 2016. Greene is a helicopter pilot at Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point and an aircraft enthusiast in his off-duty time. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Tara Molle/Released)

Yellow is my favorite

Alternatively, I think that the high-viz 1920s look or 1940s-early-50s fleet blue would be great choices. 

USS Boxer CV-21 March 10, 1948, off San Diego First operational jet fighter squadron VF-5A FJ-1 Fury LIFE Kodachrome.

Plus, this new gray Goshawk look greatly resembles the gag-filled privately-owned Folland Gnats and HF-24 Ajeet used in 1991’s Hot Shots!

Who knows, maybe someone in CNATRA is a fan.

Clip ensues.

‘Eyes on the Gulf

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Official caption: “Gulf Of Mexico. A pair of T-2C Buckeye aircraft wait behind the blast deflector on the flight deck of the auxiliary aircraft landing training ship USS Lexington (AVT-16) for their turns at the catapult during pilot carrier training. On the corner of the flight deck at upper right are parked a C-2A Greyhound aircraft and a Coast Guard HH-65A Dolphin helicopter, 4/1/1989.”

U.S. Navy photograph 330-CFD-DN-ST-89-08969. Photographer Jim Bryant. Via NARA. National Archives Identifier: 6445247

Note the stenciling of the “Flying Tigers” of Training Squadron 26 (TRARON 26) and “USS Lexington” on the Buckeyes.

“The Blue Ghost,” Lady Lex was the ninth “short bow” Essex-class fleet carrier ordered prior to the U.S. entrance to WWII and was laid down five months prior to Pearl Harbor under the intention of being named USS Cabot. However, two weeks after the Battle of Midway, she was renamed for the combat-lost USS Lexington (CV-2) and carried that name when commissioned on 17 February 1943.

Earning 11 battle stars and the Presidential Unit Citation fighting her way across the Pacific, Lex spent eight years in mothballs post-WWII then rejoined the fleet in 1955 as CVA-16 after an SCB-27C/125 angled deck modernization. Redesignated an anti-submarine carrier (CVS-16) in 1962, while most of her modded sisterships saw extensive combat off Vietnam, Lexington arrived at Pensacola in 1969 for work as the Navy’s dedicated training carrier (CVT-16, then AVT-16 after 1978), spending a solid 22 years shuffling across the Gulf of Mexico between Corpus Christi and P-Cola on carrier trials. She was, by 15 years, the last of her class on active service and the last WWII-era flattop still working.

She is currently preserved at Corpus as a museum ship.