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In 1935 under the direction of Chief Engineer James "Dutch" Kindelberger (later famous for the P-51), General Aircraft Corporation of Dundalk, Maryland designed and privately funded a tandem-seat training aircraft designated the GA-16. Over the next 10 years this aircraft, then known as the Harvard (RAF) or Texan (U.S.), was destined to be redesigned, modified, and built in greater numbers than any other training plane in history. In 1936 the Army ordered 42 of the trainers, then designated the BT-9 and powered by the Wright R-985 engine of 400 horsepower. GA moved to Inglewood, California, and was renamed North American Aviation. The Navy wanted the aircraft with the Pratt & Whitney R-1340 engine of 600 horsepower. This laid the basis for the AT-6, or SNJ, as the Navy called the aircraft. After WWII started, the demand for the AT-6 got very heavy. In addition to the USAAF and U.S. Navy, it also became the advanced trainer for the RAF and Royal Canadian Air Force. It was an ideal stepping stone up to the fighter aircraft, replicating many of their characteristics. After the war, it served as a trainer and light attack aircraft for many years in a great number of air forces around the world. At the end of its career, it had trained over 90,000 pilots for the USAAF, USAF and U.S. Navy, as well as countless more in 29 other countries. A total of 22,000 were built.
The Scandinavian Historic Flight AT-6G, LN-TEX, flew with the Portuguese Air Force as a trainer and light attack aircraft in Angola before being brought to Norway by Anders Saether in 1979, giving the Norwegian airshow audience their first "warbird experience" and quickly becoming a main attraction. It was originally a Harvard II built under license by Norduyn in Canada before being converted to AT-6G configuration by North American. It is painted silver with USAF trainer markings. The aircraft is based in Oslo. LN-TEX has been a very popular performer at a great number of airshows and has proven extremely reliable in every aspect.
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