Texan Illustrated: T6/SNJ/Harvard Hardcover – June 27, 2025

Possibly one of the least-heralded but most important airplanes of the WWII era is the North American Texan, variously known as the Texan, Harvard, Wirraway, Boomerang, Yale, and Mosquito. It was used by the military services of at least 55 countries, and not just during World War II, since it remained in the service of those countries long after 1945. The T-6 was the introduction to high-powered complex military airplanes for a generation of fighter pilots. It required them to learn and manage aircraft systems as well as mastering the stick and rudder proficiencies to perform the complexities of aerial combat. The T-6 is where they earned their wings, silver or gold. The Texan saw limited combat action in World War II and again in Korea, but its military contributions will always be associated with its role as the foremost pilot maker of that era.Over 17,000 Texans were manufactured and given that they were relatively cheap and easy to maintain, they were assured of a civil career when their military service ended. Though they were still in the service of both the American Air Force and Navy after the war, their sheer numbers allowed them to be sold to the public, where they were pressed into service in a wide variety of utilitarian roles. When the civilian Warbird movement began to grow in the 1960s, the Texan once again leapt to the fore as the gateway to training a new generation of pilots who could afford to operate World War II fighters such as the Mustang, P-40, and Wildcat, which also seemed to be widely available.This volume of the “Illustrated” series will, as usual, cover the development of the T-6 and its military career, but the following Warbird section will necessarily be a much larger section than is normal for the series. Read more