In 1928, Clement Melville Keys found North American as a holding company to buy and sell interests in airlines and aviation related companies. The Air Mail Act of 1934, however, forced the breakup of this type of holding company. As a result, North American became a manufacturing company run by James H. “Dutch” Kindelberger who had previously worked for the Douglas Aircraft Company. General Motors took a controlling interest in North American and merged it with General Aviation Manufacturing Corporation.Under Kindelberger, the company focused on producing trainers.
Shown below are some of the North American Aviation trainers which are displayed in museums.
North American SNJ-5 Texan
This advanced trainer was first produced by North American in 1938. It has a top speed of 205 mph, a cruising speed of 170 mph, and a range of 750 miles. Nearly 4,000 of these airplanes were produced. This aircraft was on display in the Yanks Air Museum in Chino, California.
North American Aviation T-6A (Texan)
In 1937, the U.S. Army Air Corps selected North American Aviation’s T-6 advanced trainer to transition fighter pilots from primary trainers to front-line fighters. According to the display in Historic Flight in Spokane, Washington:
“This aircraft, with its Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp radial engine, was faster than the biplane primary trainers, and fully aerobatic. Its combination of speed and wight, and the need for stick and rudder skills, either confirmed an aviation career path or suggested another type of military service would be more suitable.”
A total of 15,495 T-6 trainers were built for the U.S. Army Air Corps, the Navy Air Corps, and both the British and Canadian air forces. Movie producers have converted some of the T-6s into “Hollywood Zeros” by painting them with the Japanese Mitsubishi Zero markings.
The T-6 on display in Historic Flight spent two decades in the Argentine Navy and features a thirty-caliber cockpit mounted machine gun which was used for gunnery training.
North American Aviation AT-6 Texan
The T-6 Texan is an American advanced trainer which was used during World War II and into the 1970s. The prototype of this aircraft was first flown in 1935. It has a cruising speed of 145 mph, a top speed of 206 mph, and a range of 730 miles.
This aircraft was on display in the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon.
1943 North American Aviation AT-6D/SBJ-5 Texan
This aircraft was on display in the Pearson Air Museum in Vancouver, Washington. The airplane shown below was sold at the end of World War II as surplus for $750. With the outbreak of the Korean War, the Air Force re-acquired the plane for $15,000 and used it for reconnaissance.
More airplane photo tours
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Museums 201: Piper Cubs (Photo Diary)
Museums 201: World War I Fokker Airplanes (photo diary)
Museums 201: World War I Sopwith Airplanes (photo diary)
Museums 201: Jet airplanes of the 1940s (photo diary)
Museums 201: Cessna Airplanes (photo diary)
Museums 201: Fairchild airplanes (photo diary)
Museums 201: Stearman airplanes (photo diary)