One of the most widely used aircraft in history. Nearly every Army Air Forces pilot, a majority of British, Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand pilots, and thousands of US Navy pilots in World War II trained in the AT-6 (called Harvard in Canada or SNJ by the Navy) prior to earning their wings. This aircraft exposed students to high-performance aircraft with retractable landing gear. One of two Army Air Forces aircraft types that were developed from the NA-16 company demonstrator. The AT-6C was unusual in that low-alloy steel and plywood were substituted for aluminum structure in an attempt to save strategic materials. While this saved more than 1,200 pounds of weight, fears of materials shortages were found to be exaggerated, and the standard materials were returned in the AT-6D. In service long after World War II ended, more than 2,000 remaining aircraft were redesignated T-6A, C, D, and F in 1948, when the A for "advanced," B for "basic," and P for "primary" trainer prefix nomenclature was dropped. These aircraft were remanufactured in 1948–49 and were all designated T-6G. The type was eventually used by several dozen nations. The T-6 was used in Korea for forward air control (or "mosquito missions," as they were known) and carried an observer in the second seat to spot enemy troops and gun emplacements for the pilot to mark with smoke rockets. On July 10, 1950, the first day of mosquito operations, Lt. James Bryant and Lt. Frank Mitchell called in a strike by F-80 pilots who destroyed a column of North Korean tanks. The 6147th Tactical Air Control Squadron was later "officially" formed for this mission and by the end of the war had flown 40,354 sorties and was responsible for the destruction of at least eight Communist divisions, 563 artillery pieces, 5,079 vehicles, 12 locomotives, thousands of railcars, and 84 bridges. The T-6 was phased out of Air Force and Navy service in 1958.
| Contractors: | North American Aviation, Inc. |
| Locations Built: | Inglewood, Calif., Dallas, Tex., Fresno, Calif., and Columbus, Ohio |
| Number Built: (USAF) | 15,109 (approx 7,088) |
| First Flight: | April 1, 1935 |
| First Flight Model: | NA-16 |
| First Flight Location: | Dundalk, Md. |
| First Flight Pilot: | Edmund T. "Eddie" Allen |
| Models/Variants: | AT-6, AT-6A, B, C, D, F. T-6G. LT-6G. BC-1, BC-1A |
| Powerplant: | One Pratt & Whitney R-1340-AN1 Wasp nine-cylinder radial of 550 hp |
| Wingspan: | 42 ft 0-1/4 in. |
| Length: | 29 ft 6 in |
| Height: | 11 ft 9 in. |
| Weight: | 5,617 lb gross |
| Armament: | Usually none (although some AT-6B aircraft were used for gunnery training and carried two .30-cal. machine guns; T-6Gs in the Korean War carried smoke rockets for marking targets) |
| Accommodation: | Crew of two (student and pilot in tandem) |
| Cost: | $27,000 |
| Max. Speed: | 210 mph |
| Range: | 770 mi. |
| Ceiling: | 23,200 ft. |
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