T-28 Trojan

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This refers to the aircraft. For other uses see T-28 (disambiguation).

T-28 Trojan

T-28D Trojan
Type	Trainer aircraft
Manufacturer	North American Aviation
Maiden flight	September 24 1949
Primary users	United States Air Force United States Navy South Vietnamese Air Force Argentine Navy

The North American T-28 Trojan was a piston-engined military trainer aircraft used by the United States armed forces in the 1950s and into the early 1970s. The largest single concentration of this aircraft was employed by the US Navy at NAS Whiting Field in Milton, Florida in the training of student naval aviators. Many were subsequently sold to private civil operators, and due to their reasonable operating costs are often found flying as warbirds today.

1 Development
2 Service history
3 Variants
4 Operators
5 Specifications (T-28D)
6 External links
7 References
8 Related content

[edit] Development

Meeting aérien Ambérieux en Bugey (France), 2006

On September 24 1949 the XT-28 (company designation NA-159) was flown for the first time, designed to replace the T-6 Texan. Found satisfactory, a contract was issued and between 1950 and 1957 a total of 1,948 were built.

[edit] Service history

In the COIN role, T-28s saw extensive service during the Vietnam War in VNAF hands, as well as the Secret War in Laos. They were also supplied to Congo by the CIA to support Moise Tshombe's regime. France used locally remanufactured T-28s in close-support and patrol roles in Algeria. In the Philippines, T-28s, known locally as "Tora-toras", figured prominently in a series of coup de etats in the 1980s and were employed as dive bombers by rebel military forces. The T-28 Trojan was the first US attack fixed wing aircraft (non-transport type) lost in SOUTH Vietnam, during the Vietnam War. Capt. Robert L. Simpson, USAF, Detachment 2A, lst Air Commando Group, and Lt. Hoa, SVNAF, were shot down by ground fire on 28 August 1962 while flying Close Air Support (CAS). Neither crewman survived. The USAF lost 23 T-28's to all causes during the war, with the last two losses occurring in 1968. [1]

[edit] Variants

XT-28 - Prototype, two built.
T-28A - US Air Force version with an 800 hp (597 kW) engine. (1,194 built)
T-28B - US Navy version with 1,425 hp (1,063 kW) engine (489 built)
T-28C - US Navy version, a T-28B with tailhook for deck landing training (266 built)
T-28D Nomad - T-28As converted for the counter insurgency (COIN) role. Re-engined as per the T-28B and C, and fitted with six underwing hardpoints. (321 converted by NAA, plus 72 by Fairchild Hiller)