Ambassador Weiser to present U.S. Air Force AT-38 for display at Kosice air museum

Bratislava, September 9, 2004

At a ceremony Monday, September 13, at 1:00 P.M., at the Air Museum in Kosice, U.S. Ambassador Ronald Weiser will present a U.S. Air Force AT-38 Talon training airplane for display at the museum.

This is part of a museum-to-museum exchange program involving the United States Air Force Museum at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, and the Slovak Military Historical Institute, Bratislava.

The exchange program is the result of a request by former President Rudolf Schuster on behalf of the Slovak Republic. He requested an aircraft from the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Hugh Shelton, for the Air Technical Museum in Kosice in order to add an American aircraft to the historical museum that he initiated.

The AT-38B Talon, produced by Northrop Grumman, is a twin-engine, high-altitude, supersonic jet trainer used in a variety of roles because of its sleek design, economy of operations, ease of maintenance, high performance, and exceptional safety record. Built in 1964, the AT-38B aircraft being presented is particularly suitable for display because it is a primary pilot trainer for most NATO countries in the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program in Wichita Falls, Texas. The AT-38B is a modified version used by the Air Education and Training Command of the United States Air Force to prepare pilots for fighter aircraft such as the F-15, F-16 and A-10.

More information:

Major Peter Sumichrast, PhD
E-mail: sumichrast.p@zoznam.sk
Cell: 0903-820 831