Interesting pair of jets, I am out of guesses

Let me try to give only facts and maybe others here can help me figure out the puzzle.

Roughly noon yesterday, I see a pair of small white jets in relative proximity to each other, as in, same altitude but within a couple thousand feet of each other, clearly on approach to SJT. I was about 10 degrees out of line from their approach so seeing them in silhouette, they appeared close to each other, closer than typical traffic would be. Let's call them Cessna Citation CJ1 or CJ2s. But I can't be sure the type. They were very similar in size and engine configuration.

So as I usually do when I see air traffic that I think looks interesting, I pull up FlightAware - Flight Tracker / Flight Status / Flight Tracking to see who landed at SJT. No listing for one or two small jets landing yesterday.

Didn't think again about it until Today at noon, sure enough, two small white jets on approach to SJT, this time I am observing from directly under the approach looking straight up. The pair passed overhead in the time it took me to walk about a half block.

Looked on flight aware, no listing for the landings.

I don't know that they landed, maybe just shooting approaches. I assume FlightAware is an "opt in" sort of tracking where you're only listed if you want to be tracked.

So what are plausible explanations for a pair of nearly identical small business jets? At same time of day on consecutive days? Maybe this is more common than I realize, but that's why I'm asking the experts.

 

all of the above plausible, and the last two are entirely likely.

DHS Customs has a hangar at the airport and after looking at a picture of the Beechjet, that could definitely be the planes I saw, although they were very plain, fewer USAF markings if any at all. It looks like those are used to train navigators which makes sense. Also I'd lean toward military based on how close the planes were to each other yesterdat. Not necessarily in formation but way close. I said a thousand feet but after rethinking I now want to say less than 500 feet apart yesterday.

The under side of a wing that I saw today, it had what I thought was a tail number but could have said USAF. It was just too small to read.

 

I'm going to lean toward air force T-1As and being advanced trainers makes a lot of sense, since they were so consistent in the time of day they appeared, and there are a couple squadrons at Randolph and Laughlin. (So wikipedia says )

But only could have figured this out with your help, DonV! You've earned your WT avatar

Maybe Mark would poke holes or support that theory. He did answer my question a while back about why C-5s would be doing touch and gos out at SJT (avionics certification after repair IIRC)

 

Tomorrow I'll keep a decent camera with me when I drive to lunch, just in case!

 

You gotta be ****tin me. LOL. Seriously, is there any question this forum can't answer?

 

So I guess you've eaten at packsaddle a few times

 

I forgot I had a haircut appointment across town around lunchtime, but when leaving there I saw what looked like a T-1 approaching SJT around 11:40, and so I headed toward the airport to see if I might get a better look. I lost sight of it for a while but as I got close to airport I saw the same type jet banking hard left at low altitude. After your post yesterday I had searched the term "tactical overhead" and so that fit with what I read on web (see pic below)

Not long after the T-1 disappeared from my sight I saw a plane taking off, I thought it was the same plane doing touch and go, but as it climbed out and banked left and head north, I saw it level out, it had the profile of a T-38.

I drove out to the airport to see if I could spot the T-1 on the ground but didn't see it. I saw two small jet aircraft similar size to T-1 on the ground on north end of airport at the DHS facility, one marked with Border Patrol livery and one with US Customs on tail.

I never saw the T-1s on the ground, the south end of the runway is harder to get to, and American Eagle has a bunch of jets furloughed that block the view of the ramps to the south.

Fun to see the T-1 right on schedule and also a T-38!
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Re: The Grill, If you lived in San Angelo you'd understand why. It's the best non-chain option on that end of town.

If you're ever going to be through here again for lunch, and with a crew that wont bust your balls too hard for including a friend you met on the internet, holler at me through PM.

 

I say T38, I am relatively certain that's what it was. Here's a terrible cell phone pic of it flying roughly north-northwest.

Also a pic of what I think was a T-1 banking into final approach, my vantage point was about a mile and a quarter from the runway.

(Stop me when this gets boring for you, I have learned a ton! But don't want to beat you down over minutae, it's interesting to me to get the other side of what I see in the air.)
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Thanks for all the cool details. Congrats and best of luck, if you haven't gotten your job assignment I hope that goes as you want it to.

There isn't a great place to observe what's at the FBO except from the commercial terminal behind the secure area, it's fun to watch final approaches from the park by the lake, but you can't see anything once it's much beyond the threshhold. Tough to see what's in front of the Ranger FBO unless you're flying commercial and have gone thru security.