Dr. David Naisbitt completed Undergraduate Pilot Training at Randolph Field in San Antonio Texas. 74 out of 1700 applicants were chosen to begin pilot training. Thirty five candidates received their wings after the 53 week program. Lieutenant Naisbitt graduated fourth in his class.
There is nothing to compare with full afterburner climbs and 8g air combat tactics. The T-38 is a true high performance, supersonic, aircraft capable of a 720 degree role rate. The T-38 was named the “White Rocket” because of its appearance and performance.
The T-38 needs as little as 2,300 feet (695.2 meters) of runway to take off and can climb from sea level to nearly 30,000 feet (9,068 meters) in one minute.
Jacqueline Cochran set eight performance records in the fall of 1961 flying a production T-38A and in February 1962 a T-38A set four international time-to-climb records. The USAF Thunderbirds used T-38As from 1974 to 1982 because of their economic operation and high performance. Other users of the T-38A include the U.S. Navy in their Top Gun combat simulation program and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
Captain David Naisbitt spent the last 5 years of the Vietnam War flying combat missions out of Danang, Camron Bay and Saigon while evacuating wounded to staging areas in the Phillipines and Hawaii. His Squadron was selected to fly the POW’s out of Hanoi to Hickam Field in Hawaii and on to Norton AFB in California.
