T-7A attends Red Tail Rendezvous
The 412th Test Wing at Edwards AFB hosted a special ‘Red Tail Rendezvous’ afternoon during the State of California’s formal Tuskegee Airmen remembrance day on 7 March.
California’s Tuskegee Airmen Remembrance Day is held on March 7 to mark the anniversary (the 82nd this year) of the first graduating class of African American pilots for the USAAF. In the segregated Army Air Force of the time, these pilots were trained separately at the Tuskegee Institute, located near Tuskegee, Alabama, and at the Tuskegee Army Air Field. They formed the 332nd Fighter Group, known as the Red Tails.
The ceremony celebrated the bravery, resilience, and excellence that the Tuskegee Airmen embodied, which set the standard for today’s warfighters. Commemorating this is believed to reinforce warfighter standards and resilience, and to amplify airman morale.
The USAF took advantage of a planned T-7A test mission (with a dedicated flight test photographer and photo chase aircraft) to fly a unique formation with the 416th Flight Test Squadron T-7A, an F-35A from the Alabama Air National Guard (decorated with a red tail), and a P-51D Mustang from the Palm Springs Air and Space Museum, painted in wartime ‘Red Tails’ markings.
The T-7A is known as the Red Hawk and sports red tails as a homage to the Tuskegee Airmen.
