T-28A Pre-Flight Checks - Explored!
Seen conducting pre-flight checks is a French T-28A Fennec, 517692, prior to performing a flying display at the 2013 Duxford Air Show.
The North American T-28 series of aircraft were developed just after WWII as an all-through trainer aircraft for the new breed of jet machines that were coming into service. To achieve this, the aircraft was deliberately under-powered by having an 800hp Wright R1300 engine fitted, which gave the aircraft the rather sluggish take off performance of those early jets.
The USAF, having taken delivery of some 400, found them a little expensive to operate, instead adopting the Beech T-34 Mentor as its standard trainer, placing all of its T-28A aircraft into desert storage. In the meantime, the US Navy started to search for an all-through trainer that could provide a means of giving its students basic and advanced flight training and also of qualifying them in carrier landings. Thus were born the T-28B and C models for the USN that desired an aircraft with a more meaningful performance and who asked North American if the Wright 1820 series of 1425hp engine could be fitted to the aircraft.
The new power plant transformed the machine, giving it a similar performance to the legendary P-51 Mustang, yet with its nose wheel undercarriage and large tandem cockpit, making it a relatively easy aircraft to fly. At this stage, in 1957, the French Air Force arrived on the scene with a need to find an effective ground-attack aircraft to replace their T-6G trainers that were being utilised in the Algerian conflict. The French were unable to buy T-28Bs but were told that the T-28A models suitable for modification were in desert storage; they bought and shipped them to Sud Aviation at St Nazaire for modification into ground-attack machines.
This programme was hugely successful, and by early 1960, no less than 100 T-28S aircraft had been sent to Algeria. The aircraft were fitted with two hardpoints beneath each wing, which carried two 12.7mm machine-guns and up to 36 rockets or a bomb load equivalent.
The success of this aircraft type in French service was noted by the Americans who promptly converted many 'A' models and also built approximately 400 T-28D models for ground-attack and counter-insurgency (COIN) work. They were mostly used in Vietnam where the type could carry four tons of ordnance and proved very effective during the early stages of that war.
The T-28s were finally replaced by the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk in that theatre, but soldiered on with the Laotian and Cambodian Air Forces. After service with the French Air Force, T-28S Fennecs were sold to Morocco, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Haiti where they proved most useful in various small conflicts.
T-28A Pre-Flight Checks - Explored!
Seen conducting pre-flight checks is a French T-28A Fennec, 517692, prior to performing a flying display at the 2013 Duxford Air Show.
The North American T-28 series of aircraft were developed just after WWII as an all-through trainer aircraft for the new breed of jet machines that were coming into service. To achieve this, the aircraft was deliberately under-powered by having an 800hp Wright R1300 engine fitted, which gave the aircraft the rather sluggish take off performance of those early jets.
The USAF, having taken delivery of some 400, found them a little expensive to operate, instead adopting the Beech T-34 Mentor as its standard trainer, placing all of its T-28A aircraft into desert storage. In the meantime, the US Navy started to search for an all-through trainer that could provide a means of giving its students basic and advanced flight training and also of qualifying them in carrier landings. Thus were born the T-28B and C models for the USN that desired an aircraft with a more meaningful performance and who asked North American if the Wright 1820 series of 1425hp engine could be fitted to the aircraft.
The new power plant transformed the machine, giving it a similar performance to the legendary P-51 Mustang, yet with its nose wheel undercarriage and large tandem cockpit, making it a relatively easy aircraft to fly. At this stage, in 1957, the French Air Force arrived on the scene with a need to find an effective ground-attack aircraft to replace their T-6G trainers that were being utilised in the Algerian conflict. The French were unable to buy T-28Bs but were told that the T-28A models suitable for modification were in desert storage; they bought and shipped them to Sud Aviation at St Nazaire for modification into ground-attack machines.
This programme was hugely successful, and by early 1960, no less than 100 T-28S aircraft had been sent to Algeria. The aircraft were fitted with two hardpoints beneath each wing, which carried two 12.7mm machine-guns and up to 36 rockets or a bomb load equivalent.
The success of this aircraft type in French service was noted by the Americans who promptly converted many 'A' models and also built approximately 400 T-28D models for ground-attack and counter-insurgency (COIN) work. They were mostly used in Vietnam where the type could carry four tons of ordnance and proved very effective during the early stages of that war.
The T-28s were finally replaced by the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk in that theatre, but soldiered on with the Laotian and Cambodian Air Forces. After service with the French Air Force, T-28S Fennecs were sold to Morocco, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Haiti where they proved most useful in various small conflicts.