NORTH AMERICAN T-28A "TROJAN"

North American designed the T-28 to replace the World War II era T-6 trainer.  First flown in 1949, the Trojan entered production in 1950.  An 800 horsepower engine powered the U.S. Air Force version (T-28A) while later U.S. Navy version (T-28B and T-28C) were powered by 1,425 hp engine.  When production ended in 1957, North American had built a total of 1,948 of these three versions.

In 1962, the USAF began a program to modify more than 200 T-28s as tactical fighter-bombers for counterinsurgency warfare in Southeast Asia.  Equipped with 1,425-hp engines, these aircraft (redesignated the T-28D Nomad) proved to be an effective weapon in close support missions against enemy ground troops.  The South Vietnamese Air Force (VNAF) operated a number of USAF-supplied T-28Bs until the T-28Ds became available.

Robins AFB served as the avionics, communications and armament systems and repair managers for T-28 aircraft. The T-28A on display was delivered to the USAF in February 1952 and delivered to the 3555th Pilot Training Wing at Perrin AFB, Texas. It served with various pilot training units within the USAF before being transferred to the U.S. Army as a test chase aircraft at Fort Rucker, Alabama in March 1961. It was later retired to the Army Aviation Museum at Fort Rucker and transferred to Robins AFB for display in 1991.