The T-43As were used for USAF Undergraduate Navigator/Combat Systems Officer training (with the exception of those USAF Navigators/CSOs slated for the F-15E and B-1B) and advanced interservice NAV pipeline training for Student Naval Flight Officers slated for eventual assignment to land-based naval aircraft. Externally, the T-43 differs from the civilian aircraft by having more antennas and fewer windows.

The T-43A has stations on board for twelve navigator students, six navigator instructors, as well as a pilot and co-pilot. The student training compartment is equipped with avionics gear as used in contemporary operational aircraft. This includes ground mapping radar; VHF omnidirectional range (VOR) and Tactical air navigation system (TACAN) avionics systems; Long Range Navigation System (LORAN-C); inertial navigation system; radar altimeter; and all required VHF, UHF and HF communications equipment. Five periscopic sextant stations spaced along the length of the training compartment were used for celestial navigation training. However, with the advent of GPS, student navigators are no longer taught celestial navigation or LORAN.

The aircraft had considerably more training capability than the aircraft it replaced, the T-29. Introduction of the T-43 into Air Force Undergraduate Navigator Training (UNT) in 1974 also enabled the U.S. Navy to disestablish Training Squadron TWENTY-NINE (VT-29) and its T-29 aircraft at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas that had been training student Naval Flight Officers for various land-based naval aircraft such as the P-3 Orion, EP-3 Aries, and variants of the C-130 Hercules. The Navy then merged its NFO "NAV" pipeline with Air Force UNT in 1976, forming Interservice Undergraduate Navigator Training (IUNT) with both Navy students and instructors.

Inside each T-43A training compartment are two minimum proficiency, two maximum proficiency and 12 student navigator stations. Two stations form a console, and instructors can move their seats to the consoles and sit beside students for individual instruction. The large cabin allows easy access to seating and storage, yet reduces the distance between student stations and instructor positions.

The aircraft were initially assigned to the 323rd Flying Training Wing (323 FTW) of the Air Training Command (ATC) at Mather AFB, CA, plus two additional aircraft assigned to the Colorado Air National Guard to support introductory air navigation training for cadets at the United States Air Force Academy. When the 323 FTW was inactivated and Mather AFB closed by Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) action in 1993, most of the T-43s were transferred to the 12th Flying Training Wing (12 FTW) of the Air Education and Training Command (AETC) at Randolph AFB, TX, with the 12 FTW assuming the undergraduate navigator training role.

Operational history

The T-43 was last based at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas and operated originally by the 558th Flying Training Squadron (558 FTS) and since 1996 by the 562d Flying Training Squadron and by the 563d Flying Training Squadron since 1999. The two additional aircraft used for introductory air navigation training of USAF Academy cadets continue to be operated by the Colorado Air National Guard at Buckley AFB and Peterson AFB, Colorado.

In addition, several T-43A were later modified to a transport aircraft configuration designated CT-43A, such as one previously operated by the 6th Air Mobility Wing (6 AMW) at MacDill AFB, Florida in support of United States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) for transport of the USSOUTHCOM Commander in Central and South America. The 6 AMW's CT-43A aircraft was replaced by a Gulfstream C-37A aircraft in early 2001.

Throughout its service in the Air Training Command and the successor Air Education and Training Command, no T-43 was ever lost in a mishap. Among the T-43s removed from navigator training and converted to CT-43A executive transports, one aircraft (AF Ser. No. 73-1149) assigned to the 435th Airlift Wing (435 AW) at Ramstein Air Base, Germany to support United States European Command (USEUCOM) crashed in Croatia in 1996 while carrying then-U.S. Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown and 34 other passengers. There were no survivors and subsequent investigation determined that this was a controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) mishap as a result of pilot error.

On September 17, 2010 the last T-43 flight was flown at Randolph Air Force Base, and it was subsequently retired from the active Air Force service after 37 years of service.

Variants

T-43A

Model 737-253 powered by two JT8D-9 engines and provision for 3 instructors and 16 student navigators, 19 built.

CT-43A

T-43As converted as staff or command transports. Six T-43A were converted.

NT-43A

One T-43A (AF Ser. No. 73-1155) converted as a radar test bed aircraft.