T-6 Paint Schemes

[HarvardIV]

Gentlemen:

As far as the T-38 and T-6 are concerned, I'm wondering why it isn't a well know fact they they were purposfully designed to be difficult? I was thinking that the T-6 must've been difficult by coincidence. After all, it is any early design, and aircraft design back then had a lot of unknowns.

Chris

[Chuck Gardner]

Well here goes: I was watching the last part of this htread to see what everyone had to say before I piped in.
I logged 350 hours in the last 6 months and flown over 250 customers all as flight instructor in the T-6. I must say that I dont enjoy normal stalls in the T-6 but aerobatics are too fun.
Steve said "When this thing is tired of flying she just up and quits. I now begin to understand why people die in the T-6 every year. Get slow in the pattern…overshoot final…bank her up on a wing and pull and…BANG".
This is true, but she stalls every single time before the wings snap off (unlike the T-34) under high G load making her the most terrific airplane to do aerial combat or aerobatics in. I have have had ACMs with customers where all they do is pull back on the stick and we go from one accelerated stall to the next in sequence. It is quite wild to be thrown on your back and go over and over again. Its much fun when you expected it coming. You couldn't ask for a better plane to teach in. Too bad everyone learns in planes with a training wheel on the nose these days.

[srpatterson]

...You couldn't ask for a better plane to teach in. Too bad everyone learns in planes with a training wheel on the nose these days.

Chuck, you never spoke a truer word...

[HarvardIV]

A question for Chuck:

I've heard those T-6 schools pay pretty well, and even starting one has it's benefits. What are you thoughts?

[bdk]

I've only flown two T-6's and only done stalls in one, but I have been told that some T-6's fly quite a bit differently than others in the stall regime. I have also been told that a good leading edge Bondo job tames the stall on a T-6 quite a bit. Who knows what some of these old birds have been through during their career though!

[Jeffrey]

Steve -

Now I get it!! The Talon is, much as I expect the Texan was, the "man/boy separator". It prepared students to go fly wild jet-powered behemoths like the Thud, Hun, and Rhino, by being difficult to fly and thereby making those big, bad, fighters a little easier by comparison.

not sure how accurate it is but from a flight instructor and past member of the roulettes I got to talk to about this sort of thing.

his take on this was you had an aircraft to teach people basic flying and it was basic, it flew even if you made BIG mistakes. then you went to something when ready that was nowhere near as tolerant so that you learnt not how to fly but how not to fly as it would really bite if you did things wrong. Finally you got to where when your reactions are automatic and the flying is natural from NOT flying wrong and you went to the fighters/bombers/whatevers where you need not to pay attention to your own aircraft ( self being subconsciously controlling that ) but to those around you and what they are doing.

[HarvardIV]

Huh?

[Stoney]

Bob Love, my late friend use to say "first you fly the P-47, then you fly the P-51, then you fly the P-40, and then you can handle the terriable Texan, but the Air Force did it the other way round" meaning its harder to fly the T-6.

[Chuck Gardner]

A question for Chuck:

I've heard those T-6 schools pay pretty well, and even starting one has it's benefits. What are you thoughts?

There is no one getting rich where I work. I think that everyone involved in aviation knows its a tough industry. Tips are always a major bonus after I take people flying. I love my job, the plane, my company, and bosses. I wouldn't trade it for anything else I have ever done in my life as a full time job. The benefits of starting your own T-6 school would be the glory of lfying the plane and sharing that with others. The downside would be the enormous expenses, living out of a suitcase, and eating like a bachelor. Been there, done that.