80th Anniversary of the North American T-6 Texan Brings Visions of EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2014

Fred Harl and Carmelo Turdo

April 1 marks the 80th anniversary of the first flight of the North American NA-16, the prototype of the NA-26/BC-1 family immediately preceding the production AT-6 Texan advanced trainer that served the U.S. armed forces and many allied forces from 1937 through the 1950s.  Nicknamed the Texan, Harvard, Yale and even the Mosquito, over 16,000 were produced in the U.S. and Canada, and many still survive and are flown as civilian "warbirds."  

As would be expected, there were a large number of T-6 Texans at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2014 representing many different national service colors and sporting colorful nose art.  The Aero Experience features this pictorial salute to the T-6 from the hundreds of photos of these aircraft taken during last summer's event.  We salute those who continue to fly and maintain Texans for our generation to experience.