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Military History of
N748LL
North American AT-6F
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- AAF
Order number: AC-19192, cost: $18,274.10 |
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1943 |
- Originally
built as a "Harvard Mk.III" (British equivalent to the
American version AT-6D) for the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air
Arm (FAA)1 |
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30 Aug 1943
31 Aug 1943 |
- USAAF
Serial number 42-44554 and NAA Construction Number
88-147481
USAAF Receives Aircraft10
Delivered to Royal Navy at
Norfolk, VA. 10 |
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11-Nov-43 |
Arrives to aircraft assembly
unit in Lockheed, Renfrewshire, Scotland2 |
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6-Jan-44 |
Taken on charge2 |
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6-Feb-44 |
Maintenance in Rootes
Brothers in Blythe Bridge near Stroke on Trent, Northern
England2 |
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Nov-45 |
Registered as FT971 with
Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm3,9 |
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Recorded Nov 1945 in
Eglington, Ireland2 |
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1946 |
Assigned to 794th Squadron of
the Fleet Air Arm3 |
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Apr-51 |
Assigned to 718th Squadron of
the Fleet Air Arm. 3 |
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Assigned to the 799th
Squadron of the Fleet Air Arm until July 19513 |
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Mar-56 |
Acquired by the Portuguese
Air Force (FAP)9; Flown from the United
Kingdom to Portugal via France and Spain with 16 other
T-6's. |
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Assigned to the training
Squadron at Sintra Air Base, near Lisbon. 3 |
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New serial number or
registration number “1661”.9 |
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1962 |
Upgraded to the T-6G modified
Standard3,9 |
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1964 |
Transferred to the San
Jacinto Air Base near Aveiro3 |
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1974 |
Went out of service and
stored until 1979. 3,9 |
Sources:
1)
1. North
American Aviation Records – Contract Number W535 AC-19192 and
DA-8
9,331 NA-88. Provided by the North American Trainer
Organization (www.northamericantrainer.org
).
2)
2.
Sturtivant, Ray and Burrow, Mick, ‘Fleet Air Arm Aircraft,
1939-45’, (Air-Britain Ltd. : 1995), ISBN 0 85130 232 7
3)
3.
J. Goncalves of the Aero Fenix, Rua de S. Joao, 22, Vale de
Lobos, P-2715-405, Almargem do Bispo, Portugal. T:
+351.21.962.4047. Email: aero,finix@sapo.pt Web site:
www.aeronauta.com/aero.fenix.
This is a group that researches and restores Vintage Aircraft in
Portugal.
4)
4.
Warbirds Directory by John Chapman and Geoff Doodall (4th
edition). The information from here was provided by Eddy
Wierenga of Scramble Magazine (eddy.wierenga@scramble.nl
) of the Dutch Aviation Society called Scramble. He is the
Portugal/Spain Editor. This magazine is available online and is
dedicated to keeping aviation enthusiast informed.
www.scramble.nl.
5)
5.
Current Owner:
provided the info from actual records, evidence or direct
discussions with prior owners.
6)
6. Howard Pardue,
Breckenridge Aviation Museum, Breckenridge, Texas, USA. The
museum sent me a picture of the airplane repainted in zero
colors from its days in Texas.
7)
7. George Hartigan.
Nat-6@swbell.net.
Spoke to George via email regarding his time with the aircraft
and verified some dates.
8)
8. Wayne Bowlware.
wbowlware@wsbowlware.com.
I purchased the aircraft from Wayne. He took me through the
improvements he did with the aircraft.
9.
Aircraft’s log books from FAP.
10.
USAAF Aircraft record cards,
Archie DiFante, Archivist, AFHRA/RSA, 600 Chennault Circle,
Maxwell, AFB AL 36112 USA.
Archangelo.Difante@MAXWELL.AF.MIL |
