North American T-28 Trojan

What is the North American T-28 Trojan?

The T-28 Trojan is a two-seat, single-engine trainer built by North American Aviation. It first flew on September 24, 1949, and replaced the wartime T-6 Texan.

North American built 1,948 Trojans between 1950 and 1957. Besides training, the type became a proven counterinsurgency aircraft, mainly in the Vietnam War, and it flies today as a warbird and aerobatic performer.

Why the Air Force wanted a new trainer

The T-6 was a World War II design. The USAF wanted a trainer with higher performance that was easier to maintain.

The Trojan also had tricycle landing gear. That taught students to take off and land the same way as in the high-performance aircraft they would fly next.

The T-28A reached the Air Proving Ground at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, in mid-June 1950. Testers there judged its transition, instrument and gunnery training capability satisfactory, and a production contract followed.

T-28 variants: A, B, C and D

The early Air Force T-28A used an 800 hp Wright R-1300 radial. The Navy versions, the T-28B and T-28C, got the far stronger R-1820-86 Cyclone and a three-bladed propeller.

The T-28B was the Navy’s land-based trainer, with a belly-mounted speed brake. The T-28C added a tailhook and shorter propeller blades so student naval aviators could learn carrier landings.

The T-28D “Nomad” was the war model. From 1962 the Air Force converted more than 200 T-28s into tactical fighter-bombers for counterinsurgency work, with underwing hardpoints and the larger engine.

Fairchild Hiller later converted 72 into the AT-28D, which carried six underwing hardpoints and a rocket-powered ejection seat. Pilots called these “Tangos.”

The experimental YAT-28E swapped the radial for a Lycoming turboprop. Three prototypes flew from February 1963, but the project was cancelled in 1965.

Powerplant and performance

The Navy’s T-28B and T-28C use the nine-cylinder, air-cooled Wright R-1820-86 Cyclone, rated at 1,425 hp (1,063 kW). The full specification table for the aircraft is on this page, so the notes below only explain the numbers that need context.

The top speed of 343 mph (298 kt) is quoted at 10,000 feet. The Air Force museum lists a few miles per hour more for the T-28B, so expect small differences between sources, depending on the variant and the test condition.

The 920 nm (1,060 mi) range is a ferry range. It describes a long repositioning flight, not the radius you could fight at with a load of rockets and bombs.

On weight, the T-28D is listed at 6,424 lb (2,914 kg) empty.

Its maximum takeoff weight is 8,500 lb (3,850 kg). The T-28D climbs at 3,540 ft/min (18 m/s) and reaches a ceiling of 35,500 ft (10,800 m).

The Navy’s workhorse trainer

The Air Force dropped the T-28 from primary training by the early 1960s. It moved to the Beech T-34 Mentor and the jet-powered Cessna T-37, and the Air National Guard flew Trojans until the late 1950s.

The Navy, and by default the Marine Corps and Coast Guard, kept the Trojan as a primary trainer well into the early 1980s. The largest concentration flew from Naval Air Station Whiting Field in Milton, Florida.

The type’s U.S. military career ended as the T-34C turboprop took over. The last Navy training squadron to fly it, VT-27 “Boomers” at Corpus Christi, Texas, flew the last T-28 training flight in early 1984.

The T-28 in the Vietnam War and Laos

The Trojan’s combat career grew out of the T-28D conversions of 1962. The South Vietnamese air force flew USAF-supplied T-28Bs in the same role until the Ds became available.

The museum’s T-28B is painted as a South Vietnamese aircraft from Bien Hoa Air Base in 1962, where U.S. pilots trained and flew combat missions alongside Vietnamese crews.

A T-28 was also the first U.S. fixed-wing attack aircraft (excluding transports) lost in South Vietnam. Capt. Robert L. Simpson of the USAF and Lt. Hoa of the Vietnamese air force were shot down by ground fire on August 28, 1962, and neither survived.

The USAF lost 23 T-28s to all causes in the war, with the last two losses in 1968. T-28s also flew with the Royal Lao Air Force in the secret war in Laos, and the CIA used them in the former Belgian Congo in the 1960s.

For more on the wider air war, see our guide to fighter jets of the Vietnam War. The Trojan’s closest big-engined cousin in the attack role was the Douglas A-1 Skyraider.

The French Fennec in Algeria

France’s own T-28 story is separate. Between 1959 and 1962 the Armée de l’Air flew former USAF T-28As, converted by Sud-Aviation, in counterinsurgency squadrons in North Africa.

These T-28S Fennec aircraft had a supercharged R-1820-97, side armor, an electrically powered sliding canopy and four underwing hardpoints. In total 148 airframes were bought from Pacific Airmotive and modified in France.

After the war the French government sold the Fennecs from 1964 to 1967. Most went to Morocco and Argentina, and some ended up in Uruguay and Honduras.

Who flew the T-28

Beyond the U.S. Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Army, the Trojan served with air forces from Argentina and Brazil to Thailand, the Philippines and Japan. Taiwan’s AIDC also built a turboprop derivative, the T-CH-1, with 50 produced for the Taiwanese air force from 1976 to 1981.

The Royal Thai Air Force received 88 T-28Ds and retired them in 1984. The Philippine Air Force retired its last Trojans in 1994.

T-28 Trojans today: warbirds and aerobatics

Many retired T-28s were sold to private owners. Thanks to their reasonable operating costs, they are still seen flying or on static display as warbirds.

Civil conversions date back to the 1960s. Hamilton Aircraft’s T-28R-2 Nomair II turned the tandem-seat trainer into a cramped five-seat cabin monoplane, and ten were modified in all.

Fittingly, the ICAO type designator T28 is listed against the Hamilton Nomair.

The type has had other civilian jobs too. A modified, armored T-28A flew weather research for the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology from 1969 to 2005.

Frequently Asked Questions

How heavy was the T-28?

The T-28D weighs 6,424 lb (2,914 kg) empty. Its maximum takeoff weight is 8,500 lb (3,850 kg).

What engine does the T-28 Trojan use?

The Navy T-28B and T-28C use a single nine-cylinder, air-cooled Wright R-1820-86 Cyclone radial rated at 1,425 hp (1,063 kW). The T-28D conversions used other R-1820 Cyclone variants, and the early Air Force T-28A used an 800 hp Wright R-1300.

How many T-28 Trojans were built?

North American built 1,948 T-28s between 1950 and 1957. Additional aircraft exist as later conversions, such as the T-28D, the AT-28D and the French Fennec.

What did the T-28 replace?

It replaced the T-6 Texan as an advanced trainer. The Air Force later moved primary training to the Beech T-34 Mentor and Cessna T-37, while the Navy flew the T-28 until the T-34C took over in the early 1980s.

Did the T-28 fly in combat?

Yes. T-28s flew close air support in the Vietnam War and in Laos, and the French used the Fennec version in Algeria. The USAF lost 23 T-28s in the Vietnam War.

Can you still fly or buy a T-28 Trojan?

Yes. Many retired T-28s are in private hands and fly as warbirds or aerobatic aircraft. Owners cite reasonable operating costs, but each airframe’s history and condition should be checked before any purchase.