Vietnam war era aircraft take center stage at airport
by Verla Peichl Review Correspondent
The Sheboygan County Memorial Airport hosted the 60th anniversary of the T-28 Trojan aircraft accompanied by a display of a Vietnam War era exhibit.
The T-28 pilots converged at the Aviation Heritage Center in Sheboygan County from throughout the nation to practice their formation flying. This group, part of the T-28 Warbird Aerobatic Formation Demonstration Team, was preparing for the EAA show in Oshkosh.
About 30 aircraft planes took part in the FAST clinic that provided an opportunity for pilots to learn from each other. The Trojan Horsemen use this as an opportunity to practice new maneuvers, welcome new members and fine-tune their performance.
The T-28 Trojan was originally a trainer aircraft that was later turned into a warplane. Partly because of its size and agility few, if any planes, have performed as well in that role or in so many places.
The T-28 Trojan was designed and built by North American. Its first flight was on Sept. 24, 1949, with a crew of two. It has a single Wright R-1830 radial engine, which is specific to the T-28D; has a maximum speed of 352 mph and a cruise speed of 230 mph; and loaded has a maximum range of 1,335 miles. It has an armament of two .50 caliber machine guns, mini-guns, bomb load up to 3,000 pounds, rockets, and has a maximum weight of 8,118 pounds. The Trojan has a wingspan of only 40 feet 7 inches, length of 32 feet 10 inches and a height of 12 feet 8 inches.
The T-28A was designed to replace the obsolete World War II era T-6 Texan trainer and with engine changes and upgrades it was found that the Trojan performed well enough to convince the Navy to buy the T-28B and T-28C. The Air National Guard retained it for a few years and then in the early 1960s the aircraft was revamped and given a completely new purpose.
The T-28 Trojan began its combat career in the early 1960s in Vietnam. The good performance of the plane intrigued foreign governments that used it for training, close air support, reconnaissance, and airborne patrol. Versions of the T-28 served with more than 20 air forces, eventually seeing combat on four continents.
The first T-28s to serve in Vietnam were part of Operation Farm Gate’s 4400th Combat crew Training Squadron. Rugged and reliable, it was well liked by its air and ground crews.
The original mission to train South Vietnamese pilots soon grew to include combat strikes; then, in 1962, USAF began to modify some 300 T-28s as fighter-bombers for counter-insurgency warfare in Vietnam.
The aircraft was withdrawn from combat in Vietnam in 1964, but it continued to operate with the 60th Special Operations Squadron on missions over Laos and Cambodia.
Today, the Trojan Horsemen take their planes in flight and generate interest in the aircraft by doing air shows, Warbird formation demonstrations with aerobatics, Armed Forces tributes, missing man formations, media/VIP rides and aerial photography.
To read about the entire history of the T-28 Trojan plane, go to, http://www.courtesyaircraft.com/T28 _prof.htm. To learn more about the Trojan Horsemen, go to www.trojanhorsemen.com.
Some of this information was provided by Walter J. Boyne (USAF-Ret.), author, aviation historian, chairman of the Wingspan Channel and founder of the National Air and Space Museum.
