26 September 2008: Yves Rossy flew across the English Channel, 22 miles (35 kilometers) in 13 minutes, using his jet-powered wing. At 8,000 feet (2,440 meters) over Calais he jumped from an airplane and aimed for the cliffs of Dover. His only means of steering was by moving his head. After flying at speeds of 120 miles per hour (193 kilometers per hour), he parachuted to the ground at Dover.
© 2015, Bryan R. Swopes
26 September 2003: At 2:38 a.m., Friday, David Kim Hempleman-Adams, O.B.E., lifted off from the athletic field of Sussex Elementary School, Sussex, New Brunswick, Canada, in his Rozière balloon on a four-day transatlantic flight. Hempleman-Adams was in an open 7 feet × 3 feet (2.1 × 0.9 meters) wicker basket.
The balloon was built by Cameron Balloons, Ltd., Bristol, in 2000. It was a Cameron R-90, serial number 4751. The balloon was first registered 31 March 2000, as G-BYZX.
The R-90 is a Rozière balloon, which has separate chambers for helium and heated air. This allows the aeronaut to control the balloon’s buoyancy, but the hybrid type uses much less fuel than a hot-air balloon. The type is named after its inventor, Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier. The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale places the Cameron R-90 in the free balloon sub-class AM-08, for mixed balloons with a volume of 2,200–3,000 cubic meters (77,692–105,944 cubic feet).
G-BYZX had a maximum takeoff weight of 2,654 kilograms (5,851 pounds).
Hempleman Adams had previously flown G-BYZX, then named Britannic Challenge, to the North Pole, on 3 June 2000. Following his transatlantic flight, he would use it to set a FAI World Record for Altitude of 12,557 meters (41,198 feet), 23 March 2004.
During the first day, Hempleman-Adams’ balloon gradually rose to an altitude of 8,000 feet (2,438 meters) as it drifted eastward. On the second day he was at 10,000 feet (3,048 meters), and on Day 3 he reached a peak of 14,000 feet (4,267 meters).
The weather was very cold, with rain and snow. Hempleman-Adams said that the average temperature during the flight was -12 °C. (10.4 °F.). Ice built up on the balloon’s envelope, increasing its weight. It became heavy enough that the balloon began to descend. Hempleman-Adams was unable to prevent the descent by using the propane burners to heat the air and increase buoyancy, and was forced to lighten the balloon by jettisoning six propane cylinders.
During the third day, the balloon was hit by the shock waves of a Concorde supersonic airliner as it passed overhead at 30,000 feet (9,144 meters). Hempleman-Adams felt a very abrupt, but fortunately, brief, descent as a result.
G-BYZX reached the southwestern tip of Ireland at 8:30 a.m., BST, on 29 September, completing the transatlantic phase of his flight. The balloon continued to drift eastward, and at 6 p.m. on 30 September, came to rest near Hambleton, Lancashire, England. The total duration of the flight was 83 hours, 14 minutes, 35 seconds.
Sir David Kim Hempleman-Adams, K.C.V.O., O.B.E., K.St.J., D.L., is an interesting guy. He is the first person to have completed the True Adventurer’s Grand Slam, by reaching the North and South Poles, the North and South Magnetic Poles, and to have climbed the highest mountains on each of the seven continents. The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale online database currently credits him with 49 world aviation records.
© 2017, Bryan R. Swopes
by Captain Sean M. Cross, United States Coast Guard (Retired)
During the Vietnam conflict from 1967–1972, eleven U.S. Coast Guard Aviators voluntarily served with high honor and distinction with the U.S. Air Force Aerospace Rescue and Recovery forces in Southeast Asia in the dual role of aircraft commanders and instructor pilots. They regularly risked their lives flying into harm’s way to save airmen in peril of death or capture. Their significant contributions and exceptional performance were highly commended by the Air Force with the award of four Silver Stars, sixteen Distinguished Flying Crosses, and eighty-six Air Medals, in addition to many other recognitions. The previous accolades did not come without cost—designated Coast Guard Aviator #997, Lieutenant Jack Columbus Rittichier was killed in action while attempting to rescue a downed Marine airman in hostile territory on June 9th, 1968. These Aviators carried out their noble mission with heroism and a focus on duty, honor, country and the Coast Guard. Their actions brought honor on themselves, the United States of America, the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Coast Guard.
26 September 1971: A Sikorsky HH-53C Super Jolly Green Giant, crewed by Coast Guard Lieutenant Commander Joseph Lawrence (“Jay”) Crowe, Jr., CGA ‘62 (Pilot), Xxxxxx Hampton (Copilot), William Simm (Flight Engineer), Daniel G. Manion (Pararescue Jumper) and Richard L. Steed (Pararescue Jumper), rescued the crew of a North American Aviation OV-10A Bronco (call sign “RUSTIC 07″), Lieutenant Lansford Elmer Trapp, Jr., and Cambodian observer, Sergeant Chap Khorn, after they ejected from their 12.7mm-damaged aircraft, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) northwest of Kampong Cham, Cambodia.
Lieutenant General Lansford E. Trapp bio: https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Biographies/Display/Article/105437/lieutenant-general-lansford-e-trapp-jr/
A little more…(much of this content was slightly modified from the book Leave No Man Behind: The Saga of Combat Search and Rescue by George Galdorisi and Thomas Phillips, pages 393 and 394)
To better cover the southern portion of South Vietnam and be closer to the increasing levels of operations in Cambodia, the 37th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron (ARRS) had for some time maintained a pair of HH-53Cs at Bien Hoa Air Base, about fifteen miles northeast of Saigon. On September 26, 1971, it was Coast Guard exchange pilot Lieutenant Commander Joseph “Jay” Crowe’s turn to stage at the forward operating location (FOL). Standing the alert with his crew, Hampton, Simm, Manion, and Steed, they were scrambled to rescue of the crew of an OV-10A from the 19th TASS who shared the ramp at Bien Hoa.
The Rustic FAC, the call sign that any FAC [Forward Air Controller] operating in Cambodia used, regardless of squadron, had fallen victim to a “.50-caliber trap” when it was hit at 3,500 feet (1,067 meters) by converging fire from four 12.7mm AA machine guns ringing the perimeter of a small village about ten miles (16 kilometers) northwest of the Mekong River town of Kampong Cham. When grouped as a battery, the 12.7 mm guns, “heavy guns” of the southern air war (where the heavy AA weapons of Laos and North Vietnam had not yet appeared in large numbers), were still quite deadly. The Bronco pilot, 1st Lieutenant Lansford Trapp, and his observer, Cambodian Sgt. Chap Khom, had parachuted down into the apex of the gun formation, and the hostile forces accompanying the AAA gunners were in no rush to go get them.
In an interview with his grandson recorded in 2018, retired General Lansford E. Trapp described the incident:
“When I was a lieutenant, and this would have been in 1971, I was flying an observation aircraft over in Vietnam. I was on a mission over in Cambodia and we were helping ground forces who were fighting against bad guys over there. That ensuing battle that went on as I was flying over head in my airplane, we actually got hit by ground fire and the left wing of the airplane caught on fire.
“I had a Cambodian interpreter sitting in my back seat, a Sergeant Chung (Khorn), and it was his seventh ride in an airplane. I didn’t even know that the wing was on fire until one of the other airplanes came by and said “hey your left wing is on fire”. So, I looked out, my wing was on fire, and we decided that I was gonna be able to land at one of the airports that was right there. So, we came in and tried to land, but I lost control of the airplane. So, I pushed the power back in and climbed up over the airfield. Then the left wing burned off, and so we started in a pretty good spiral into the wing that had burned off. We ejected from the airplane.
“Sergeant Corn (Khorn) went out first, and then I went out. The craziest thing was that we used to fly with about 250 to 300 big maps, so we could look at the country as we were trying to figure out where we were. Those all came flying out of the cockpit as we ejected. It looked like confetti outside. As we came down sergeant Corn he got burned pretty bad from the wing fire, and I banged my ankle up pretty badly, but we were OK. We got picked up by friendly forces and I got a nice helicopter ride back to home base that night.”
Crowe’s Jolly approached at 8,000 feet (2,438 meters), safely above the range of the still-active hostile guns, while the A-1H Sandys of the 1st Special Operations Squadron (SOS) went in low to begin their routine of locating the survivors and the hostile guns. In the flat and relatively open terrain of central Cambodia, penetrating the ring of guns was going to be dicey, there not being the ridges, karsts, and dense vegetation of the 37th’s regular operating area to provide a modicum of masking for the helicopter. By this stage of the war, a low, treetop-hugging approach by the rescue helicopter was a well-known procedure, and the enemy gunners would be waiting for it, scanning the low horizon for the rescue helicopter sure to follow on the heels of the tough Skyraiders. Each gun guarded its quadrant of the circle around the downed airmen, waiting.
Crowe decided to use a variation of the diving spiral approach he had used June 4th with success, rescuing a Covey FAC crew up in southern Laos. Rather than descending some distance away prior to a low-level run-in, he entered an autorotation from directly overhead, copilot Hampton pulling the throttles of the twin engines back, and Crowe lowering the collective stick. Down the helicopter fell, with the rush of air up through the rotors keeping the blades spinning, while the engines idled (relatively quietly). The blades are unloaded in an autorotative descent, so the characteristic whop-whop is virtually eliminated, and with the engines at idle, there is significantly less of the distinctive noises that normally come from the helicopter.
With the Sandys rumbling around, strafing and bombing and attracting the eye of the gunners, the diminished but still telltale sounds made by the falling Jolly were masked. Crowe kept the helicopter in a steep turn, spiraling down inside the perimeter of the four guns around the downed aircrew, literally behind their backs, careful not to swing out too wide, where he might catch a gunner’s eye. The Jolly would be easily seen should anyone glance straight up, luckily the last place a sane gunner would be looking for a helicopter. They were falling out of the sky at more than five thousand feet per minute. As the Jolly approached the ground, Crowe began to level off, converting vertical speed to speed across the ground, still spiraling, and then raised the nose to decelerate.
At the same time, Hampton slowly and smoothly pushed the engine throttles forward, to accelerate them back into normal speed and gently engage their drive wheels with the spinning gears of the main rotors. The accelerating engines and the rotors digging into the air as Crowe pulled up on the collective and flared into a quick-stop created loud rotor beats, accenting the whine of jet turbines accelerating to maximum power, announcing their arrival to all. But the helicopter was safely down beneath the trees in a hover, and the telltale was too late to help the gunners acquire their target. This tight spiral autorotative descent and recovery to a hover requires a superior feel for the helicopter, and exquisite coordination with the copilot to return the rotors to engine-driven flight smoothly at just the right instant. Done right, the procedure is a dramatic and breathtaking maneuver and a grand entrance. But the room for error is very small, and a botched maneuver is perilous and very unforgiving.
It was not a gambit to be repeated very often; if the gunners had detected the helicopter, Crowe and company would have found themselves in a deadly crossfire. But this day it was brilliant: a tactical surprise, completely unexpected, and therefore completely effective. The Jolly crew snatched the two men quickly and escaped out of the circle with a low-level departure. A climbing spiral back up from the center of the guns, with the gunners now alerted, was clearly out of the question. The helicopter received only sporadic fire as it left the scene in the typical low-level escape, while taking no casualties.
Epilogue
After graduation from high school in Weston, Massachusetts in 1958, Jay received an appointment to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, New London, Connecticut. Commissioned an Ensign in 1962, he served a tour at sea and then was assigned to naval flight training. Receiving his wings in 1965, he served at Coast Guard Air Stations San Francisco, California, Barbers Point, Hawaii; Cape Cod, Massachusetts; Port Angeles, Washington; Annette Island Alaska, and Sitka, Alaska.
He served during the Vietnam War on an exchange tour with the U.S. Air Force as a Combat Rescue Crew commander with the 37th ARRS Jolly Green Giants in Da Nang AB, RVN.
Jay was a 1981 graduate of the Air War College. He served as Commanding Officer Coast Guard Air Station Port Angeles, Washington, and Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod, Massachusetts. His final assignment before retirement was as Chief, Operations Division, 11th Coast Guard District, Long Beach, California.
During Jay’s distinguished career he was awarded a Legion of Merit, three Distinguished Flying Cross Medals, nine Air Medals, two Meritorious Service Medals. Three Coast Guard Commendation Medals, a Coast Guard Achievement Medal, and a Meritorious Unit Commendation. Hangar 3172 at Air Station Cape Cod, Massachusetts, was named in his honor.
Captain Crowe flew west crossing the bar February 22, 2003. His family was at his side.
Aircraft
The MH-53M Pave Low IV is a variant of Sikorsky’s S-65 heavy-lift military transport helicopter series. The MH-53M is a single main rotor, single tail rotor, twin-engine helicopter. It has a crew of six: 2 pilots, 2 flight engineers and 2 gunners. The Pave Low IV is equipped with Terrain-Following Radar and Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) for low-level operations in darkness and low visibility.
The MH-53M fuselage is 67 feet, 2.4 inches (20.483 meters) long, and the helicopter has a maximum length of 91 feet, 11.34 inches (28.025 meters) with rotors turning and the refueling boom extended. The height to the top of the main rotor pylon is 17 feet, 1.68 inches (5.224 meters). The maximum height (rotors turning) is 24 feet, 10.88 inches (7.592 meters).
The fully-articulated 6-blade main rotor has a diameter of 72 feet, 2.7 inches (22.014 meters). The main rotor turns counter-clockwise at 185 r.p.m. (100% Nr), as seen from above. (The advancing blade is on the helicopter’s right.) The main rotor blades are built with titanium spars and have -16° of twist. The semi-articulated four-blade tail rotor has a diameter of 16 feet, 0 inches (4.877 meters) and is positioned on the left side of the tail pylon. It turns clockwise at 792 r.p.m., as seen from the helicopter’s left side. (The advancing blade is below the axis of rotation.) The gap between rotor arcs is just 4.437 inches (11.270 centimeters).
Empty, the MH-53M weighs 32,000 pounds (14,515 kilograms). Its maximum takeoff weight is 46,000 pounds (20,865 kilograms).
Its two General Electric T64-GE-100 axial-flow turboshaft engines have a Normal Continuous Power rating of 3,810 shaft horsepower at 85 °F. (30 °C.), Military Power rating of 4,090 shaft horsepower, and a Maximum Power rating of 4,330 shaft horsepower. The T64-GE-100 is 79 inches (2.007 meters) long, 20 inches (0.508 meters) in diameter and weighs 720 pounds (327 kilograms). Output (100% N2) is 13,600 r.p.m.
The MH-53M has a maximum speed of 196 miles per hour (315 kilometers per hour) and a service ceiling of 16,000 feet (4877 meters). It carries two 450-gallon (1,703 liter) jettisonable fuel tanks under each sponson.
The MH-53M is armed with two M134 7.62mm miniguns and a GAU-18/A .50 caliber machine gun.
© 2020, Sean M. Cross
For additional reading, see:
26 September 1958: Lieutenant Colonel Victor Leonard Sandacz, with Captain Kenneth G. Wolf, flew a Boeing B-52D Stratofortress of the 28th Bombardment Wing, Heavy, twice around a triangular circuit from Ellsworth Air Force Base, Rapid City, South Dakota, to Douglas, Arizona, Newberg, Oregon, and back to Rapid City. He established a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Record for Speed Over a Closed Circuit of 10,000 Kilometers Without Payload with an average speed of 902.369 kilometers per hour (560.706 miles per hour).¹ Sandacz’s B-52 made two circuits in 11 hours, 9 minutes. The actual distance covered was 10,032 kilometers (6,233.6 statute miles),
Other members of the flight crew were Major James A. Hentschel, navigator; Major Joseph T. Sulkowski, radar navigator; Major James E. Kimble, electronic countermeasures; and Master Sergeant Phillip B. McCaffree, tail gunner.
A second B-52D, flown by Captain Cholett Griswold and Captain Edward V. Godfrey, made a single circuit, setting an FAI World Record for Speed Over a Closed Circuit of 5,000 Kilometers Without Payload, averaging 961.867 kilometers per hour (597.676 miles per hour).² Griswold’s B-52 competed the course in 5 hours, 11 minutes, 49 seconds.
Additional members of Captain Griswold’s crew were 1st Lieutenant Leo M. Molland, navigator; Captain William T. Dugard, radar navigator; Captain Emmanuel C. Hallenbeck, ECM; and Technical Sergeant Matthew Scopelitis, gunner.
Observers from the National Aeronautic Association were aboard each bomber.
The Boeing B-52D Stratofortress differed from earlier production models primarily in that it did not have the capability of carrying a reconnaissance capsule in its bomb bay. It is an a long-range high-subsonic heavy bomber powered by eight turbojet engines. It is flown by two pilots, a navigator and bombardier, an electronics countermeasures operator and a tail gunner.
The airplane was 156.6 feet, (47.73 meters) long with a wingspan of 185.0 feet (56.39 meters) and overall height of 48.3 feet, (14.72 meters). The wings were mounted high on the fuselage (“shoulder-mounted”) to provide clearance for the engines which were suspended on pylons. The wings had a 6° angle of incidence and 2° 30′ anhedral. The wings’ leading edges were swept aft 36° 58′. The bomber’s empty weight was 165,110 pounds (74,893 kilograms), with a combat weight of 279,900 pounds (126,961 kilograms) and a maximum takeoff weight of 450,000 pounds (204,117 kilograms).
The B-52D is powered by eight Pratt & Whitney J57-P-19W turbojet engines grouped in two-engine pods on four under-wing pylons. The J57 is a two-spool, axial-flow engine with a 16-stage compressor section (9 low- and 7-high-pressure stages) and a 3-stage turbine section (1 high- and 2 low-pressure stages). The -19W engine had a normal power rating of 9,000 pounds of thrust (40,034 kilonewtons) at 5,900 r.p.m., N1 and 9,650 r.p.m., N2, continuous; military power rating, 10,500 pounds of thrust (46,706 kilonewtons) at 6,150 r.p.m., N1, and 9,900 r.p.m., N2, and maximum power rating of 12,100 pounds of thrust (53,823 kilonewtons) at 6,450 r.p.m., N1, and 9,900 r.p.m., N2, with water/alcohol injection, five minute limit. The J57-P-19W was 3 feet, 4.5 inches (1.029 meters) in diameter, 157.7″ 13 feet, 1.7 inches (4.006 meters) long, and weighed 4,035 pounds (1,830 kilograms).
The B-52D had an average cruise speed of 457 knots (526 miles per hour/846 kilometers per hour), and a maximum speed of 546 knots (628 miles per hour/1,011 kilometers per hour) at 20,000 feet (6,096 meters) (0.77 Mach). The service ceiling with the maximum bomb load was 49,400 feet (15,057 meters), or 55,300 feet (16,855 meters) for a ferry mission.
The maximum ferry range of the B-52D was 7,260 nautical miles (8,350 statute miles/13,446 kilometers). With the maximum bomb load, it had a combat radius of 3,115 nautical miles (3,585 statute miles/5,769 kilometers). With inflight refueling, though, the bomber’s range was essentially world-wide.
The B-52D could carry 27 1,000 pound (454 kilogram) bombs; one 30,000 pound (13,608 kilogram) “special weapon,” or two 8,600 pound (3,901 kilogram) “special weapons.” During the Vietnam War, many B-52Ds were modified to the “Big Belly” configuration. This allowed them to carry 42 750 pound (340 kilogram) bombs in the internal bomb bay and 24 750 pound (340 kilogram) bombs on external underwing pylons.
Defensive armament consisted of four Browning Aircraft Machine Guns, Caliber .50, AN-M3, mounted in a tail turret with 600 rounds of ammunition per gun. These guns had a combined rate of fire in excess of 4,000 rounds per minute.
Between 1956 and 1958, Boeing produced 101 B-52Ds at Seattle, Washington, and 69 at Wichita, Kansas.
Victor Leonard Sandacz was born 13 September 1920 at Youngstown, Ohio. He was the first of four children of Sylvester Simon Sandacz, a waiter, and Veronika M. Porembka Sandacz. He attended Mount Pleasant Township High School, Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania, graduating 26 May 1938.
In 1942, Sandacz was employed by the American Cyanimid and Chemical Corporation at Latrobe, Pennsylvania. He registered for Selective Service (conscription) on 16 February 1942, and was described as having a ruddy complexion, brown hair and eyes. He was 5 feet 8 inches (1.73 meters) tall and weighed 150 pounds (68 kilograms).
Sandacz entered the United States Army as an aviation cadet at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 23 May 1942.
Lieutenant Sandacz married Betty Grace Johnson, a stenographer, at the United Brethren Church, Winchester, Virginia, 24 December 1942. The ceremony was officiated by L. G. Bridgers. They would have four children.
Sandacz graduated from flight training at Marfa, Texas, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant 3 November 1943. He trained in four-engine bombers at Roswell Army Air Field, New Mexico, qualifying as a B-17 first pilot 15 August 1945.
Lieutenant Sandacz was promoted to the rank of captain in January 1951.
Sandacz went on to the Boeing B-29 Superfortress and Convair B-36 Peacemaker. He transitioned to the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress at Castle Air Force Base in California, April 1956.
On 16 April 1962, Lieutenant Colonel Sandacz became the first Strategic Air Command pilot to accumulate 4,000 flight hours in the B-52.
Colonel Sandacz retired from the United States Air Force 1 August 1971 after 27 years, 9 months of service.
Colonel Victor Leonard Sandacz, United States Air Force (Retired), died at Arlington, Texas, 16 December 2017 at the age of 97 years. His remains are interred at the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery.
Thanks to TDiA reader James Koenig for suggesting this topic.
¹ FAI Record File Number 8498
² FAI Record File Number 8499
© 2023, Bryan R. Swopes
The Long Beach Press-Telegram reported:
New Training Plane Tested
LOS ANGELES, Sept 27. (AP) The Air Force’s first postwar training plane—North American’s T-28—has tried her wings and found they work very well.
The company announced that the twin cockpit craft—designed to train pilots for advanced high speed fighters and bombers—flew 45 minutes yesterday. Said test pilot Skip Ziegler, “It handles more like a fighter than a trainer.” He termed the flight, “completely satisfactory.”
The T-28 has a ceiling of 29,800 feet and can move 288 miles an hour. The T-6, present Air Force trainer, ceilings at 22,000 and travels 205 m.p.h. top.
—Long Beach Press Telegram, Vol. LXII, No. 240, Tuesday, 27 September 1949, Page A-5, Column 1
The XT-28 was developed from an earlier North American Aviation project for the United States Navy. In 1946, NAA proposed their Model 142, as a replacement for the World War II SNJ/T-6 Texan, a trainer which had also been built by North American, and used by both the Navy and the U.S. Army Air Forces. The Navy designated the proposed airplane XSN2J-1. Two were built and assigned Bureau of Aeronautics serial numbers (“Bu. No.”) 121449 and 121450. 121449 was the first to fly, 15 February 1947.
The Navy tested both aircraft, but did not order them into production.
A year later, NAA made a similar proposal to the United States Air Force. The Air Force wanted a trainer to transition pilots into turbojet-powered aircraft. Similar to the XSN2J-1, the XBT-28 was changed to tricycle landing gear, a first for a miltiary trainer. The prototype’s two cockpits were laid out very similar to the new, swept-wing North American XP-86 Sabre. The Air Force ordered the airplane into production as the T-28A. The first T-28A arrived at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, 15 June 1950, where it would tested for suitability as a flight trainer.
The North American Aviation T-28 Trojan is an all-metal, two-place airplane with retractable tricycle landing gear. The dual cockpits are arranged in tandem. The T-28A was used by the United States Air Force as a primary training aircraft, while the more powerful T-28B and T-28C were employed by the U.S. Navy. The airplane was noted for its stability and handling qualities, its easy recovery from stalls and spins, and its excellent visibility.
Initially, the T-28 was built at North American Aviation’s Downey Division, in Downey, California, which at the time was primarily a farming community about 13 miles (21 kilometers) south of downtown Los Angeles, California. Production was shifted to North America’s Columbus Division in Columbus, Ohio.
The XT-28 and production T-28As were 32.0 feet (9.754) long with a wingspan of 40.6 feet (12.375 meters), and overall height of 12.7 feet (3.871 meters). The wing had an angle of incidence of 2° with 3° of negative twist, and 8° dihedral. The total wing area was 268.0 square feet (24.9 square meters). The vertical fin was offset 1° to the left of the airplane’s centerline. The prototype and early production T-28As had an empty weight of had an empty weight of 6,909 pounds (2,998 kilograms). This was increased in later aircraft to 7,282 pounds (3,303 kilograms). The Maximum Takeoff Weight (MTOW) was 7,751 pounds (3,516 kilograms).² The two prototypes had a belly-mounted speed brake. All T-28As had provisions for this installation.
The XT-28 had a maximum fuel capacity of 125 gallons (473 liters), carried in two wing tanks. Two additional tanks were added to later production T-28As, increasing the capacity to 177 gallons (670 liters).
The T-28A had a cruise speed of 165 knots (190 miles per hour/306 kilometers per hour, and maximum speed of 247 knots (284 miles per hour/457 kilometers per hour) at 5,800 feet (1,768 meters). VNE varied from 190 knots (219 miles per hour/352 kilometers per hour) at 25,000 feet (7,620 meters) with external load, to 340 knots (391 miles per hour/630 kilometers per hour) at Sea Level, clean. The airplane’s best power off glide speed was 105 knots (120 miles per hour/194 kilometers per hour).
The T-28A could climb at a maximum rate of 1,870 feet per minute (9.5 meters per second). Its service ceiling was 24,000 feet (7,315 meters). The maximum range was 720 nautical miles (829 statute miles/1333 kilometers) in early production models, or 880 nautical miles (1,013 statute miles/1,630 kilometers) in aircraft with increased fuel capacity.
For training purposes, the T-28A could be armed with one detachable gun pod under each wing. Each pod contained a .50-caliber AN-M3 Browning Aircraft Machine Gun. These had a rate of fire of approximately 1,100 rounds per minute. Each gun was supplied with 100 rounds of ammunition. The trainer could also be equipped with a removable bomb rack for a 100-pound (45 kilogram) bomb. Three 2.25 inch (5.7 centimeters) Sub-Caliber Aerial Rocket (SCAR)—Rocket, 2.25-Inch Practice—rockets could be carried on pylons mounted to hardpoints under each wing.
A total of 1,948 T-28s were built from 1950 to 1957. 1,194 of these were T-28As. The Air Force retired its T-28As by 1959. Many USAF T-28As were pulled from storage at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson, Arizona, and were converted to the T-28D configuration for combat operations during the Vietnam War. Others were converted to the AT-28D attack variant, which included an ejection seat.
XT-28 48-1371 was sent to “The Boneyard” at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base near Tucson, Arizona, 23 January 1961, and to reclamation, 18 June 1965. In 1974, it was observed, disassembled, at the Hamilton Aviation Company yard in Tucson. (Hamilton produced modified T-28s: the military T-28R-1, and the civilian T-28R-2 Nomair.)
¹ For biographical information about Skip Ziegler, please see “This Day in Aviation” for 12 Nay 1953 at: https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/12-may-1953/
© 2025, Bryan R. Swopes