Warbird Information Exchange

Looking at Courtesy's listing for the modified T-6 prompts, are there any real NA-50's flying?

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"There are old pilots and bold pilots but few old, bold pilots."

Hi--

Nope, not quite. One of each type of the NA-16 series single seat variants does survive, however. An NA-50 is on a pylon in a park in Peru as a memorial (along with an equally rare Northrop 8A); and of course the EAA have for many years had the sole surviving P-64 (USAAF-annexed NA-68) in flying condition. The NA-50s built for Peru and the NA-68s for Siam (Thailand) differed in a number of ways, the most substantial being wing planform: the NA-50 had a "short wing Yale" look with the swept leading/straight trailing edges, while the NA-68/P-64 was more Mustang-like with a near-straight leading edge and swept-forward trailing edge. More noticeable on the ground, the NA-50 had the rounded NA-44/Harvard I/SNJ-2 style rudder, while the NA-68 had the triangular Texan style unit.

Somewhere on WIX I'd bet there are photos of both the Peruvian NA-50 and the EAA's P-64...

S.

There were only 7 to begin with and the lone survivor is on a plinth at Las Palmas Air Base in Peru, where it serves as a memorial to a pilot who became a national hero while flying one of the 'Toritos', Capitan Jose Abelardo Quinones Gonzalez. The attached photo was taken by historian Sergio de la Puente.

The aircraft was based on the NA-44 light bomber demonstrator and the wing was simply a shortened version. The tail feathers came straight off the NA-44. Strangely enough, some of the cockpit glass was 'borrowed' from another NAA product, the O-47 observation plane.

Doug



Hi Steve!

Thats a shame to see the last one on a pole...

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Taylor Stevenson

I sincerely hope it's still on that pole! Yesterday, there was a 7.9 earthquake centred in the ocean off Peru. 7.9 is a monster, and there are over 300 dead reported so far.

Its major damge was inflicted on an area less than 200 miles south of Lima (where the NA-50 resides). I'm just waiting to hear from friends in the area.

Doug

Maybe the Peruvian Govt will allow some group to dismantle it and restore it for display. But while restoring, full and complete data readouts are done on the rare little fighter.

Just like Stormbirds! Then its just the process of a small mass production run for the private owner in mind. It could be offered like a kit. Though there probably wouldnt be a very big market. How many would you make in a limited production run? 10? 30?

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Keep Em' Flying,
Christopher Soltis
Dedicated to the preservation and education of The Sikorsky Memorial Airport

CASC Blog Page: http://ctair-space.blogspot.com/
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Chicks Dig Warbirds.......right?

I just received word that the major damage was confined to the area I mentioned earlier, but the count is now over 400 dead and 1000 injured. Water and electricity have been knocked out and the Pan American highway has been breached in several places.

Lima apparently did some rockin' and rollin', but suffered very little by comparison. I assume that statement would include Las Palmas Air Base.

Doug