T-6 Texan US NAVY SNJ-5 (43763)
The Gulf Coast Wing’s SNJ was built as an AT-6D in 1943 by North American Aviation in Inglewood, CA to fill an Army contract. However, the aircraft was immediately taken over by the Navy, redesignated SNJ-5 and sent to Pensacola Naval Air Station. There it served the rest of the war as an Instrument Trainer teaching pilots the critical skills they would later use in critical situations to save their crew’s lives and bring their aircraft back to base.
Incidentally, both the paint scheme and markings carried by the aircraft today were chosen to match what this aircraft carried during her wartime service. This aircraft remained in Naval Service for many years after the war, stationed at many Naval Air Stations. It was retired in 1960 and sold to a metal scrapper for just $282. The savvy buyer instead rehabilitated the aircraft for his own use.
The aircraft then passed through several owners until finally coming to the Commemorative Air Force in 1991 where it was well cared for by Air Group One in San Diego for many years before coming to the Gulf Coast Wing in 2020.
EDIT:/ Changelog:
- Textures updated,
- Roundels facing the correct direction on the upper wing surface,
- New Specular maps to correct Chrome,
- Misaligned textures corrected,
- Missing Landing Gear Texture fixed,
- New Screenshots added.
This Warbird deserves a proper representation, my apologies it's taken so long to correct it.
ggi
The_Flying_Freja author
10 months ago