Texan HB-RCN
Year built
1942
Aircraft
T-6G Texan
Base
Lausanne Airport
This Exact Texan left the production plant in 1942 as an AT-6D and was taken on Strength with the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) with serial number 42-44736 on December 8th 1943. It was then assigned to the 3038th AAF Base Unit (Pilot School Air Training Command, Advanced Single Engine) at Luke AAF in Phoenix, Arizona.
In February 1946 it was assigned to the 4168th AAFBU (Air Material Command) and later to San Antonio Air Material Area for storage where it remained until 1948.
It was then remanufactured as a T-6G and on March 27th 1953 it was taken on strength with the United States Air Force (USAF) with serial number 52-8199. It was then assigned to the 188th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron of the New Mexico Air National Guard at Kirtland AFB (3 T-6 were in that unit).
In July 1956 it was retired from the USAF and in January 1957 the Texan was taken on Strength with the Armée de l'Air (French Air Force) with serial number 28231. In the French Air Force, it was mainly used for training and light attack or counter-insurgency role during the Algerian War by the EALA, escadrilles d’aviation légère d’appui, armed with machine guns, bombs and rockets.
In July 1965 it was retired from the French Air Force and put in storage. Years later, the plane was recovered from Etampes Airfield in a very bad condition and stored at La Féreté-Alais Airfield.
She was completely restored at Bex Airfield in Switzerland and made her first flight in spring 2000 as HB-RCN. Since 2008 she is based in Lausanne Airfield in Switzerland.
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North American T-6G Texan
The North American Aviation T-6 Texan is an American single-engined advanced trainer aircraft used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), United States Navy, Royal Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force and other air forces of the British Commonwealth during World War II and into the 1970s. Designed by North American Aviation, the T-6 is known by a variety of designations depending on the model and operating air force. The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) and USAAF designated it as the AT-6, the United States Navy the SNJ, and British Commonwealth air forces the Harvard, the name by which it is best known outside the US. Starting in 1948, the new United States Air Force (USAF) designated it the T-6, with the USN following in 1962. It remains a popular warbird used for airshow demonstrations and static displays. It has also been used many times to simulate various historical aircraft, including the Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero. A total of 15,495 T-6s of all variants were built.
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