North American T-28 Trojan

.... a problem with slow rudder application after that.

Great responsive plane.

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Another nickname I recall was "the Beast". Possibly because compared to the T-34 it was quite a handfull. With only a few hours as a student pilot I was practicing approach turn stalls and recovery. At altitude the a /c was put into a 30 degree bank, power reduced and the nose raised until a stall began. Recovery was leveling the wings and applying power. With the T-34 full power was easily controlled even without using the rudder. Not so the T-28. When I slammed on the power I was slow with the rudder and it torque rolled. I found myself looking "up" at the green woods of NW Florida. I immediately reduced power, slammed the stick over, shoved my boot thru the firewall and the throttle thru the instrument panel. The IP came over the ICS and said he could have prevented it but thought it would make more of an impression this way. No S..t!! Never had

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I flew T-28A and D with USAFA MAP training program at Keesler AFB with Vietnamese students in 1970-1972. I was able to fly AT-28s with the Lao Hmong AT-28 student pilots during 1973.
Tom Oliver, CA, Cell: 925-381-0805

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This is a great site! Although I have many stories about the T-28 after 1800 accident-free hours of instructing in it at NAS Whiting Field in VT-2 - transition, precision and acrobatics (1968 - 1971), here is one you might be interested in.

Flight surgeons going through training in Pensacola would routinely get some flight time. VT-1 at NAS Saufley Field would normally provide the training, but due to a high flight student load, they punted to us at Whiting. VT-2 got the job. Rem,ember, all Navy students flew the T-34B before moving up to the T-28. Not these flight surgeons. they had a slightly modified training program, but if they were physically qualified to solo and passed their safe for solo check flight, they got to fly a T-28 by themselves. Very few had previous civilian flight time.

I took one flight surgeon out on a check ride one Friday afternoon. He seemed to have problems taxiing, but through the course of the flight he was reasonably good in all maneuvers, stalls, spin, landings and course rules, so when we got back I gave him an UP. In the debrief I remarked that he seemed to have a little trouble taxiing. He then told me he was from NYC, didn't have a car, and HAD NEVER DRIVEN ONE!!! Can you imagine soloing a T-28 without ever having driven a car? I gave him "my" T-28B (2G-251, BUNO 138289) for his solo. Told him not to break it, and after he got back, report to me at the O'Club. Unfortunately, I can't recall his name.

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How early would you like to go? I was A Royal Navy trainee pilot at Pensacola class of '53 when they were phasing out the SNJ. My Instructor was Lt. Cdr. Walker who was designated Senior Pilot for the 'new' T28 so I got lucky first time when the first one arrived. Being on SNJ's I didn't get to go through the course on the T28 but flying SNJs with nil maintenance was just as much fun and I had 3 fail on me in one week. (Rude comments abounded)

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4 years as instructor at VT-3 Whiting, 3 years 9 months of which as Standardization [ax-man] Officer; 2,000 hours in both B and C. Strongest airplane not built by the Grumman Iron Works; not a paper airplane like the replacement Beechcraft T-34C. I wasn't a screamer or a Santa Claus...

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Have 150 hours in the T-28B at Whiting in 1957. Loved the aircraft and feeling the G's when full power came on and the thrill of aerobatics. Got caught in the extend your commitment or get dropped from the program. Didn't take the bait. Only regrets are not soloing in formation and landing on the carrier. Got my own Cessna 182 Skylane in the 90's and eliminated some of the disappointment. Still remember the great guys I was with in the program. Of the five, two died later in accidents and one died scuba diving.

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Flew the B and C models in Navy Training Command at Whiting Field in 58 as a student and at NAS Memphis and Whiting from 59-62 as an instructor. It was a big jump from the T-34 but was extremely reliable and fun to fly. There was no ship available for T-28 Carquals as a student, so I got my first carrier landings in the F-9 Cougar. After getting my wings, my first duty was as a T-28 /T2V instrument instructor at NAS Memphis. Before reporting there for duty, I was allowed to get carqualed in the T-28 as part of my "charm school" training. Would love to have one now(if avgas and maintenance were free).

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C13tfs@aol.com
Before T33 training at Bryan. AFB TX in 1953, I flew the T28A.
Later, I went to the T28 Instructor pilot school at Craig AFB AL


where I learned to do inverted spins, a maneuver that I
used (while I was an IP at Vance AFB OK ) to scare hell out of any
multi-engine pilot who would fly with me. A superb acro bird with those
great big ailerons and a pretty reliable engine, it was fun to fly
and instruct in

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C13tfs@aol.com
Before T33 training at Bryan. AFB TX in 1953, I flew the T28A.
Later, I went to the T28 Instructor pilot school at Craig AFB AL


where I learned to do inverted spins, a maneuver that I
used (while I was an IP at Vance AFB OK ) to scare hell out of any
multi-engine pilot who would fly with me. A superb acro bird with those
great big ailerons and a pretty reliable engine, it was fun to fly
and instruct in

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Flew the 28 at Greenville MS Class 55K. Remember calling the prop 'the meat axe' because of its size. The only aircraft I flew at 0 airspeed. To join the 0 airspeed club you had to do a full loop at flank speed pullin about 4 Gs at the bottom then cut the loop short and go verticle at full throttle, then cut the power just as the 28 was wheezing out. The result = 0 airspeed for an instant till you started falling backward and kicking in full left or right rudder. Then once that big nose was heading down pour the coals to her avoid the spin and there you have it. Great aircraft to fly but unappreciated by many of us anxious to get in the T-33.

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My first and only job,[ 39 (+)years] after leaving the USNAVY in 1952, was with NORTH AMERICAN AVIATION,and It's subsequent owners ( Rockwell Internat. corp. / Boeing )
The first aircraft I worked on was the T28 trainer, In Downey, Calif. I fabricated the 'baggage door',and the 'bomb release box'.Seems like I fab'ed a '1000 doors & boxes', and when the 'Navy version'came in ,I fab'ed the 'New door' that incorporated the 'air-brake'.It's been more than 58 years and I believe I could fab a 'T28 baggage door,in my sleep today. When I was at Whiting Field,Fld. to see my
grandson's graduation as a Marine Helicopter pilot,the first thing I noticed was a 'T28' mounted on a pole near the parking lot and entrance. It returned fond memories of the 'Old Bird'..........mg

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I was a standardization formation instructor in the T-28 at whiting field, Fla. (mid 1960's) with two thousand (2000)hrs in type. The most fun flying I've ever had including 33 years with the airlines. A great airplane.

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I flew about 100 hours in this aircraft at Spense Air Base, Moultrie, Georgia.
I remember that after flying the T-34, the T-28 seemed huge and high. But after a few hours it was not difficult to fly and was very responsive and comfortable. We used the pitch out landing method in preparation for the T-33.

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I was in the first AF training class to use the T-28.It was AF flying training class 50-G We were at Enid AFB in Oklahoma.It was in August 1950. It was a Multi-engine class..Basic was 8 months in the T-6 at a basic school then on to Enid and the T-28 then the B-25 with graduation in Dec 1950.There were numerous problems with the airplane early on which caused its grounding for a while.The improved A model and later models proved the airplanes great basic flying characteristics.After my time in the airplane,I regreted not going to single engine school instead of multi-engine school.I rember that I was the first pilot to land the airplane at Perrin AFB Texas at Sherman Tex on my solo Navigation mission fron Enid.

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My uncle flew the T-28D in combat in Laos in the late 60s. He was one of the Hmong T-28 pilots that flew and fought under the command of general Vang Pao in Laos. He was shot down in 1969 on a combat mission. One of the best and bravest pilots during the Vietnam era was a T-28 Hmong pilot, named, Lee Lue. He was believed to have flown thousands of combat missions on a T-28. He too was shot down. His motto was fly and fight until you die. He was truely a great pilot for the Hmong people.

Ty Vu
1-13-10
Fresno,CA

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In 1978 the Navy was using the T28B and C, (yes, the carrier version was the C not the G) as the primary and intermediate trainer; it was the very first airplane a lot of student naval aviators ever touched. And even though I had a private when I started flight school it was INTIMIDATING! But I soon grew to love it. I see a lot of them flying now out here in Southern California; actually saw the bird I soloed in at Pensacola (Whiting Field) out at Camarillo, and would love to own one. It would be enough to get me back to flying which I haven't done since leaving the airlines quite a while back. What a great machine it was and is. Great memories of the most exciting days; earning navy wings was one of the proudest highlights of my life, and still is.

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In 1978 the Navy was using the T28B and C, (yes, the carrier version was the C not the G) as the primary and intermediate trainer; it was the very first airplane a lot of student naval aviators ever touched. And even though I had a private when I started flight school it was INTIMIDATING! But I soon grew to love it. I see a lot of them flying now out here in Southern California; actually saw the bird I soloed in at Pensacola (Whiting Field) out at Camarillo, and would love to own one. It would be enough to get me back to flying which I haven't done since leaving the airlines quite a while back. What a great machine it was and is. Great memories of the most exciting days; earning navy wings was one of the proudest highlights of my life, and still is.

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I instructed in T-28A and B (yes, B models) in the USAF. I have over 2,000 hours in them and last flew one with the Trojan Phlyers in April of this year. A wonderful, memorable airplane.

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I looked into buying a t28
the prices have dropped
anyone looking to help me to preserve a warbird
some thoughts
1 non profit org
2 free area or space to store this bird can cut costs
3 a partner ship to own a piece of history
4 anyone know a museum that would love to have this as a display

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