The T-6 Texan, an old glory of aviation explained by one of its Spanish pilots

It was one of the most numerous aircraft in the Spanish military aviation

The T-6 Texan, an old glory of aviation explained by one of its Spanish pilots

@DefAviation 3·10·2025 · 22:08 0

The North American T-6 Texan is one of the most famous military training aircraft in the history of world aviation.

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The prototype of this model made its first flight on April 1, 1935, under the designation North American NA-16. Its purpose was to provide a basic training aircraft to the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC), and it was adopted by both the United States Army Air Corps and the US Navy for pilot training. The first 60 T-6Ds arrived in Spain on August 7, 1954, specifically at the port of Santander, aboard the US Navy aircraft carrier USS Tripoli (CVE-64), following the Madrid Pact of 1953 between Spain and the United States.

Two of the Texans preserved at the Museo del Aire de Cuatro Vientos, in Madrid. In the foreground we see the C.6-155, and behind it the C.6-159, preserved with the registration C.6-35 (Photo: Elentir).

Spain received a total of 201 T-6s, making them one of the most numerous aircraft in our military aviation. The aircraft received were of different variants: 130 were of the SNJ-4, SNJ-5 and SNJ-6 types, and 71 units were of the T-6G variant. The last 10 T-6Gs were purchased from France to be used in Spanish Sahara in operations against Polisario Front terrorists, since the agreements between Spain and the United States prevented the use of the aircraft ceded by the first country for attack operations. The Texan made its last flight with the Air Force on June 30, 1982, after 28 years of service.

The T-6G Texan E.16-90, photographed outside the Cuatro Vientos Air Museum in Madrid, in April 2011 (Photo: Elentir).

The Spanish Texans were used as training, liaison and attack aircraft, operating in the Peninsula, on the islands, in the Sahara and in Spanish Guinea. Currently, in addition to the aircraft that are on display in different places, the Cuatro Vientos Air Museum preserves three units:

The SNJ-5 Texan C.6-155 (421-35, cn 121-41833), built during World War II and entered service with the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) in 1944, with serial number 44-81111. It arrived in Santander in 1961, being sent to the Maestranza de Cuatro Vientos, where it was converted into a T-6D. It was decommissioned on June 16, 1980. It is preserved with the bare fuselage and with the numerals of the 421 Squadron based in Getafe (Madrid).
The T-6G Texan E.16-90 (793-6, cn 49-3348). It was commissioned into the Air Force in January 1958. It is preserved with the numbers of the 793 Squadron of the General Air Academy (AGA) in San Javier (Murcia) and with the beautiful orange-yellow colour used by the T-6 trainers at that academy. It was decommissioned on 30 June 1982.
The SNJ-4 Texan C.6-159 (463-06, cn 88-13578). It is the one that appears in the photo at the top of this article. It is preserved with the registration C.6-35, a number and the camouflage used by the 463 Squadron of Wing 46, based in Gando (Gran Canaria). It is the only armed example of those preserved in the Cuatro Vientos Air Museum. It is equipped with two 7.7 mm Breda-Safat machine guns, taken from old CR-32 "Chirri" fighters, and Oerlikon rockets.

This Monday, the Association of Friends of the Air Museum published a video starring Francisco Maraver, one of the Spanish pilots who flew the T-6 Texan, in which he talks about the characteristics and history of this aircraft in Spain (the video is in Spanish, you can activate the automatic subtitles in English in the bottom bar of the player):