I was going through my passed father's WWII photos and came across this one - he was in the Army Air Corps starting in N Africa and ending up in Italy.

Do any of you more knowledgeable than I know what type aircraft this is? It looks like a two seat trainer to me.

As always, I appreciate our servicemen and women's service to our country.

Thank you JA

There was no notation on the photo so it might have been from the time he was at Mather Field and not when he was deployed.

JABQ04 said:

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T-6 "Texan" Trainer

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Been used in lots of TV shows, movies, etc. Frequently masquerading as Japanese Zeroes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_A6M_Zero

EDIT: I keep going back and forth. Not sure if it's a Texan or a BT-13 Vultee "Vibrator". Looking at the glass at the very back of the cockpit, I'll agree with Texan. Also, the more narrow side glass at the very front of the cockpit.

Vultee:

Texan

The very last "pie shaped" window is what has me thinking Texan. It looks different than the Vultee.

And yes Hollywood, I though Zero at first glance. Thought maybe it was with a captured plane.

Granted I'm not an Air Force guy but, some of the same skills they taught us in Armored Fighting Vehicle Identification apply. (If it has tracks, it's a tank - /joking)

The two aircraft look remarkably similar. Looks like there were about 9,000 Vultee BT-13s built and about 15,000 T-6 Texans built.

The main difference I see in the picture is something that sticks out under the word "Saudi" in this picture.
There are two of them at the same height on the Texan. The Vultee only has one and it's closer to the canopy.


This AOPA article has a few more identifiers but I can't really see things like the landing gear in the OP's picture.

I was overthinking the little nubs. They are, indeed, steps. I thought maybe pitot/static ports, but the pitot tube is at the end of the right wing.

Found a book about the T-6, and on page 94/95 is a very detailed breakdown of the parts

North American's T-6

As a bonus, page 93 has a detailed look at the canopies, and how they differ among different T-6/Harvard/SNJ models.

CanyonAg77 said:

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I've Googled to try and find some info as to what those projections are, with no luck. My guess is pitot tubes.

I realize they're rectangular, not pipes, but the pitot is probably housed in them. One for each airspeed indicator, front and back.

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Those are steps for crew. Pitot tube is on right wing.

You outran my edit

Once you have seen the real deal its not hard to spot them.

Regarding the steps, isn't it interesting that the crew mounts from the left. No real reason it couldn't be either side. But you still mount like it's a horse. Don't really know why you always mount a horse from the left, either. Even the newer Texan II, crews mount from the left.

Is that a Zero and a Kate?

Zeke and a Texan painted as a Zeke. 2 bladed prop is the giveaway.

Out of 11,000 Zeros, right around only 10 are still flight worthy. Hopefully they are around for many more years to come. Today I picked up a 1941 Chevy 1.5 ton truck, fully restored from a gentleman in Clyde, get to deliver that to his house, and then pick up his half track and deliver it to a museum in Houston tomorrow . But CaptTex how is this related to aircraft? Well I'll tell you, this same guy in Clyde manufactures Spitfire kits! A really great guy and very knowledgeable, he used to be in the trucking business back in Australia and we had a good conversation about being "truckees".

Quote:

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Out of 11,000 Zeros, right around only 10 are still flight worthy

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That's about 9 more than I knew of. I thought there were only 1 or 2 Zeros in the world that were flying.

Thanks! Makes sense considering the previous conversations in the thread

Does anyone know if there are any Kates left flying?


ETA: Found a brief video of one on the ground

JR_83 said:

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Zeke and a Texan painted as a Zeke. 2 bladed prop is the giveaway.

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Lots of stuff: Cowling, difference in thickness of tail section, landing gear.

The big difference is when they are flying.. they sound different.
Also the P-40 chasing the real one has to haul ass to keep up and then when the Zeke turns its over.

https://texags.com/forums/63/topics/3117531/replies/56720134