T-6 Texan & Variants

I went to an air show last weekend at the airport in Huntsville, AL, and it was quite an event I must say. The Blue Angels were the featured act, although I must say there were other very good acts as well. The USAF provided F-16 and A-10 demos while the Navy wasn’t to be outdone with their F-14 demo. There was also a mock dogfight between an L-39 Albatross and a BAC.167 Strikemaster.

One of the acts I enjoyed the most was the Two of Hearts display flown by a T-6 Texan (technically it was an SNJ-6). The pilot was actually a woman, and she’s very good at what she does. The sound of the the 600 horses from that Pratt & Whitney radial was music to my ears.

The display (which I have actually seen a couple times before) cause a spark of interest from me in the T-6. I believe that the fact that the USAF’s new primary trainer, the T-6A Texan II, being named after the original T-6 is a great tribute to this legendary aircraft. I’m grateful that so many are still flying today, and that they are so common on the air show circuit.

I recently bought the Squadron/Signal book on the T-6, and I learned a great deal about it.

One of the most fascinating things was that I learned that an RAAF Wirraway (essentially an Australian license-built T-6) scored the only known air-to-air kill that has been credited to a T-6 variant. In December of 1942, an RAAF Wirraway shot down a Japanese Zero while on a reconaissance mission. Apparently, the RAAF aircraft found itself in position above and behind a Zero that had no idea the Wirraway was there.

I also thought that the section about T-6’s used as FAC’s during the Korean War was a very interesting. The 6147th TCG (Tactical Control Group) was quite a unit from what I read. They had to have been brave and deteremined as well as quite skilled, and I’m not referring to just the two air squadrons (6148th & 6149th), but the ground squadron equipped with TACP (Tactical Air Control Party) Jeeps (6150th). If anyone is interested I can provide the numbers from the book that tell just how effective these “Mosquitos” were at their job.

I had always known the T-6 was used as a FAC, but this book taught me much more about the whole deal.

In one instance, a T-6 got jumped by a North Korean Yak-9, and the T-6 pilot put his plane into an ever tightening circle, until he found his nose on the Yak. He salvoed all his smoke rockets and they frightened the Yak drive into disengaging from combat!

Anyway, I just thought the T-6 would make an interesting topic of discussion. I hope you guys can help me learn some new things about the Texan and her brethren.