Texan HB-RTA
Year built
1941
Aircraft
AT-6A
Base
Grenchen Airport
This Exact Texan left the production plant in 1941 as an AT-6A and was taken on Strength with the Royal Air Force (RAF) as Harvard IIA with serial number AJ586 later that year. It was then assigned to the RAF training base Kingston.
In July 1941 it was taken on Strength with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) where it was assigned to the401 Squadron, St. Hubert, Canada.
On the 11th of October 1960, the Texan was retired from the Royal Canadian Air Force and sold into private hands with civilian registration N4657T.
In 2005 the aircraft was exported to Germany where it received a new civilian registration D-FITE.
Finally, in 2017 the Texan was sold to Switzerland and ferried to Grenchen Airport where it received a new civilian registration HB-RTA.
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North American AT-6A 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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