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 Ft. Rucker, Alabama in March 1961. It was later retired
to
the Army Aviation Museum at Ft. Rucker and transferred to Robins AFB
for display in 1991.
