The J-Bird was completed on 10 September 1944 in the Dallas/Ft. Worth plant and, on completion, delivered to NAS Pensacola for use as a Naval Trainer.

 

It was fitted with three 30 Cal machine guns, two forward firing and one in the rear cockpit. The original Bureau number is 90773 and the the civil registry is N3617F.

 

She was built by North American, the company that also designed and built the B-25 Mitchell and the the P-51 Mustang.

 

The J-Bird goes by many names.The Army called them AT-6, the NAVY, SNJ. In Canada they were called Harvards.

 

Our plane was born an SNJ-5, equivalent to the Army "D" model. They are often simply referred to as the T-6 or as the TEXAN.

 

Generically, the Texan resembles the Japanese "Zero" enough that is was often used in movies as a "body double." Some notable examples being "Tora Tora Tora", "Baa Baa Black Sheep", and most recently, "Pearl Harbor."