Boeing T-43

T-43/CT-43
T-43 taking off from Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport
Role	Multi-engine trainer / transport Type of aircraft
Manufacturer	Boeing
First flight	10 March 1973[1]
Introduction	September 1973[2]
Retired	September 2010
Status	Retired
Primary user	United States Air Force
Number built	19
Developed from	Boeing 737

The Boeing T-43 is a retired modified Boeing 737-200 that was used by the United States Air Force for training navigators, now known as USAF combat systems officers, from 1973 to 2010. Informally referred to as the Gator (an abbreviation of "navigator") and "Flying Classroom", nineteen of these aircraft were delivered to the Air Training Command (ATC) at Mather Air Force Base, California during 1973 and 1974. Two additional aircraft were delivered to the Colorado Air National Guard at Buckley Air National Guard Base (later Buckley Space Force Base) and Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, in direct support of cadet air navigation training at the nearby U.S. Air Force Academy. Two T-43s were later converted to CT-43As in the early 1990s and transferred to Air Mobility Command (AMC) and United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE), respectively, as executive transports. A third aircraft was also transferred to Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) for use as the "Rat 55" radar test bed aircraft and was redesignated as an NT-43A. The T-43A was retired by the Air Education and Training Command (AETC) in 2010 after 37 years of service.^[3]