T-28 Trojan

[megan]

Looking for a photo of one of the two prototypes that were built. Designated XT-28, company designation NA-159. Believe they were tail draggers, prior to having the nose wheel fitted on the production aircraft. Many thanks in advance.

[rjtjrt]

T-28 History Timeline (http://www.t28trojanfoundation.com/t-28-history-timeline-1.html)

Scroll down a little and there is a photo of Tailwheel T-28

[treadigraph]

https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.timetoast.com/public/uploads/photos/6099823/XSN2J-1.jpg?1477241118

From...

Webpage (https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/t-28-history)

Wasn't aware they prototypes were taildraggers!

Edit: Snap!

Edit II - I think that's a Columbia XLJ behind...

[sandiego89]

Looking for a photo of one of the two prototypes that were built. Designated XT-28, company designation NA-159. Believe they were tail draggers, prior to having the nose wheel fitted on the production aircraft. Many thanks in advance.


If I have my nomenclature correct, and am talking about the same thing, I believe the "prototype" or at least the forerunner to the T-28 were designated XSN2J-1, or company designator NA-142. 2 Built.


If you goggle XSN2J-1 you will come up with more photos and the wiki page.


Unsure if XT-28 was used to designate the same aircraft? I believe NA-142 was for these two tail draggers and NA-159 was for the T-28 we know today. Happy to be corrected.


I had the pleasure of climbing all around the rocks and rubble over the Northern end of Patuxent River NAS just as few years ago, looking for the Arado-234 remains that had been dumped as landfill, which I thought I had found, but subsequent investigation showed the crushed wing section was from the XSN2J-1. Still there. Not as exciting (for me) as the Arado- but still neat to find.

[India Four Two]

Edit II - I think that's a Columbia XLJ behind

It certainly is, Treaders. Two years ago in California, I had the opportunity to clamber all over one that is being rebuilt for flight after a near fatal accident at Camp Pendleton.

A tricycle gear, “monoplane Duck”. It had a hatch in the bottom of the hull, to allow covert delivery of special forces.

The tail-dragger Trojan looks great - reminiscent of a Bearcat.

[DaveReidUK]

I think that's a Columbia XLJ behind...

Or an XJL, even.

X for Experimental status
J for Utility role
L for Columbia manufacturer

[megan]

I believe NA-142 was for these two tail draggers and NA-159 was for the T-28 we know todaySeems you are correct sandiego89, thank you. Thank you too to rjtjrt and treadigraph for providing links and photos. Jobs done. Putting together a piece for input to history of a group of we Aussies who trained with the USN on the T-28B & C. Once again, thanks all. :ok:

[megan]

Found a nice photo on Boeings site. Speedbrakes in front of the flaps rather than the belly mounted on the T-28. The Ryan XN2R-1 Fireblaze lost the Navy trainer competition to the T-28.

[treadigraph]

Or an XJL, even

I'd blame fat fingers but I know damn well it was a memory lapse in the three seconds it took to swap between Chrome tabs! :(

The Ryan Fireblaze is a new type to me, presume it was only a paper aircraft so to speak?

[Jhieminga]

The Ryan XN2R-1 Fireblaze lost the Navy trainer competition to the T-28.
Don't believe everything you find on the internet, no such type ever existed! :cool:

[treadigraph]

North American XSN2J (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_XSN2J)

Vs

Fairchild XNQ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairchild_XNQ)

[sandiego89]

Don't believe everything you find on the internet, no such type ever existed! :cool:


Agree, looks like a "what if" fictional drawing. And "Fireblaze" would have been a terrible name for an early jet trainer! :E

[DaveReidUK]

Agree, looks like a "what if" fictional drawing. And "Fireblaze" would have been a terrible name for an early jet trainer!

"The Fireblaze was created [by the artist] using a stretched North American Fury as the basis, then incorporating elements from a Grumman Panther, a Northrop Scorpion, and a couple of others"

Stargazer's imaginary aircraft gallery ! © AviaDesign 2009-2010 (http://aviadesign.online.fr/pages/ryan-fireblaze.htm)

[megan]

Many thanks for the heads up Folks. :ok:Don't believe everything you find on the internetKnow what you mean, or in books, Eric Browns tale of the XS-1 vis a vis the M.52 is a case in point.

[SpazSinbad]

Seems you are correct sandiego89, thank you. Thank you too to rjtjrt and treadigraph for providing links and photos. Jobs done. Putting together a piece for input to history of a group of we Aussies who trained with the USN on the T-28B & C. Once again, thanks all. :ok:
'megan' I don't know if you have downloaded the 4.4 gigglebite PDF however there are a few pages about the USN trained aircrew (some of that info from the reunion several years back) which likely you may not have. Then there is RAN HFV info along with some history of pilots transitioning from the helo world to A4Gs. Using the search function in the PDF will quickly find relevant pages or use the bookmark pane. Pages could be extracted however at moment that is problematic (for some unknown reason and I have stopped editing this PDF for the moment).

[oldpax]

Remember T-28s staging through Khormaksar in 1961,think they were for the Thai air force.

[treadigraph]

Want a turbine T-28? (https://www.controller.com/listings/aircraft/for-sale/18986737/1964-north-american-yat-28e)

Oldpax reminds me of the time I cycled up to Biggin in December '77 - there were three battered old radial relics parked between the end of 21 and the flying clubs. Had no idea what they were. Ex Zaire AF T-28s, they were joined by a fourth I think, and a fifth crashed en-route and can now be found at a museum in Norfolk. I think Ted White/Euroworld was the owner. They were there for some months and eventually went to the US.

[surely not]

Treadigraph is this one that you saw? This was at the Biggin Hill Air Fair in 1979. From looking at a variety of sources I think it is N99160, North American T-28.

I took this photo and it was the Saturday of the show in 1979

[treadigraph]

Yes indeed, N99160 was one of them - cor, they were there longer than I thought.

[surely not]

When trying to find out which machine this was I seem to recall reading that most of the machines were gone by the middle of 1978. This one got there a little later than the others and I think had some tech probs that needed to be sorted out before it also departed to the USA.

I cannot remember where online I found the information, otherwise I'd quote the source.

[treadigraph]

Just looking it up - four in total, N99160, N99141 and N49308 all of which arrived at Biggin in late 77. N99153 suffered an undercarriage collapse in France and is now displayed at Flixton.

'141 and '308 left for the USA in April '78. Maybe Ted White or Don Bullock planned to keep '160? All still flying!

[surely not]

Apparently N99160 left Biggin Hill on the 7th Aug 1979.

[chevvron]

Want a turbine T-28? (https://www.controller.com/listings/aircraft/for-sale/18986737/1964-north-american-yat-28e)

Oldpax reminds me of the time I cycled up to Biggin in December '77 - there were three battered old radial relics parked between the end of 21 and the flying clubs. Had no idea what they were. Ex Zaire AF T-28s, they were joined by a fourth I think, and a fifth crashed en-route and can now be found at a museum in Norfolk. I think Ted White/Euroworld was the owner. They were there for some months and eventually went to the US.
There were 2 or 3 at Blackbushe at about the same time. I think I was told Doug Arnold bought them from the Moroccan Air Force.
HM Customs got to hear about them and prosecuted him for importing 'articles of war' without a licence!

[treadigraph]

There were 2 or 3 at Blackbushe at about the same time. I think I was told Doug Arnold bought them from the Moroccan Air Force.
HM Customs got to hear about them and prosecuted him for importing 'articles of war' without a licence!

I remember them, yes ex-Moroccan, they may have been owned by Jeff Hawke rather than Doug Arnold though? I came across one parked at Fort Lauderdale Exec a few years later.

Them was the days!

[SpazSinbad]

For 'megan': A USN e-mail correspondent sent me this e-mail (relevant to other USNers on the e-mail list) which may be useful for your endeavours?

"GOOD MEMORIES by Tom Smith

Old aviators,
You guys ever think back to how it all began? That first ride over the bridge to NAS Pensacola... In the old days, Marine Guards stood watch on the gate... Crisp uniforms, polished white helmet liners with yellow and red stripes on the side and the large golden Globe and Anchor on the front... Even to the uninitiated, you knew you were entering a new and exciting phase of your young life.

After you received your temporary pass, you drive through the Main Gate and are confronted with the gleaming Blue Angel F-9 or F-11... Depending on the year... And your heart started beating just a little faster... And your mind immediately thought of the possibilities of your future... Maybe, just maybe... Someday....

If you took the left fork in the road and drove up the hill, past the golf course, toward the BOQ... And continued past it... As you crested the top... Off to your right was Captains Row... Antebellum homes over looking the parade field, football stadium, the beautiful Base Chapel and eventually out to the bay.

On the left was Chevalier Field... Home of O&R or NARF as it was later called... And parked on the field, depending on the year... Would be gleaming, newly painted aircraft right out of re-work. They could have been; F6F's, F-9's, SNB's, TV-2's, T-28's or later, even A-4's... Tucked way back to the left, were about a dozen or so, Cosmoline coated old veterans... A Corsair, Bearcat, Tigercat, Panther, Banshee and others... Planes that would later provide the nucleus for our future museum that was only just a dream at the time.

As you approached the Base Headquarters building... If you went left again, you drove by a brick wall that predated the Civil War... Continuing around, it eventually turned back to the right and approached the docks. If you were lucky, you might have had your first glimpse of a real aircraft carrier (the first of many). It could have been called Saipan or Antietam... Or Lexington... All veterans of the last "Good War". And again your mind reflected... Maybe, just maybe... Some day...

Just past the carrier, the road took another right turn and brought you along the sea wall and the old hangars on your left. You didn't know it at the time, but this was the real birthplace of Naval Aviation... Where once old Curtiss Triads and other long forgotten sea planes and float planes were launched and trained the first of those to go before us; sharing the bay with old square-riggers still in service.

As you continued west, on your right was the old Training Command Headquarters... And a large number of brick buildings which you would soon learn were barracks and training buildings... The altitude chamber and the Navy Exchange. Just past the hangars on the left was the indoor swimming pool where you were first introduced to the Dilbert Dunker and other torture devices only known to Naval Aviators... Past that was the Survival School and their small animal collection, inside the building was a cutaway of the old PBY.

Past that was the water tower and obstacle course... If you took the road to your right, here you'd find NAMI Headquarters... The National Cemetery and the Base Hospital, where you'd sweat out your Indoc physical... Take eye and hearing tests and experience your first (and hopefully last) EEG... Needles in the head and strobe lights... Who could ever forget it. Somewhere in here was also the "Flight Equipment Shop"... Where you'd receive your first flight gear; your first leather jacket and be introduced to your first real "smells" unique to Naval Aviation... I can close my eyes and still remember the smell of my first flight jacket, flight suit, oxygen mask and helmet... Bet you can too.

If you had continued on the main road, you'd go past the incredible Officers Club at Mustin Beach... And then on your right you come upon an awesome sight; the old Fort Barrancas... Even more history than you expected in this short journey. Driving up the hill, you see the light house... And eventually on your right, you see Sherman Field.

This is where the action was... Even back then the Blue Angels had a hangar there... But there were also the planes you soon hoped to fly. Depending on the generation, they were Panthers, Cougars, Banshee's... T-28's, T-2's, two seat F-9's or TA-4's... Whether you stayed there or went to Meridian or Texas... This was most likely the place you came back to for your first look at a carrier deck from a cockpit.

If you were like me... You probably parked near the tower and Base Ops and watched the traffic pattern where all manner of aircraft were landing and taking off... everything from T-34's to F-8's and Phantoms... or they could have been SNJ's, T-28's, Panthers and Bearcats... if it had been just a few years earlier. And here once again, your mind would wander and you'd think... maybe, just maybe... someday...

Thinking back, our first experiences were so unique from our other services... where newbies encountered cookie cutter bases, that ranged from no-where Texas, to Oklahoma, to Mississippi or a beautiful, but miserably hot Arizona. They all felt and looked the same, save the local climate and topography... but ours was sooo different... Awesome, beautiful, historical and almost overwhelming... and we all shared the same experience.

Damn we were lucky!"

[IcePaq]

Platinum Fighter Sales | Warbird and Classic Aircraft For Sale (http://www.platinumfighters.com/t-28-inventory)

http://static.wixstatic.com/media/24414f_2725a82921ea484bb86df4a4b1c754c0.jpeg/v1/fill/w_591,h_321,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01/24414f_2725a82921ea484bb86df4a4b1c754c0.jpeg

[Vzlet]

One of my favorite Youthly Puresome stories:
http://www.youthlypuresome.com/stories/RoundMotors1.pdf

[Jhieminga]

Platinum Fighter Sales | Warbird and Classic Aircraft For Sale (http://www.platinumfighters.com/t-28-inventory)
Someone could set up quite an interesting shop specialising in T-28s based on that lot.... should I buy a lottery ticket?? ;)