North American NA-121 SNJ-5 Texan

North American NA-121 SNJ-5 Texan

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04/30/2007. Remarks by Jack Mckillop: "In the late 1930s and early 1940s, there was a buildup of the US military plus orders from Allied countries. This put the aircraft manufacturers in a bind because there was no priority system and they did not know how to prioritize the orders. All purchasers desired the earliest possible delivery date so on 23 July 1940, representatives of the USAAC, USN and the British Purchasing Commission arrived at an agreement on allocations to be made through 1 April 1942. The Joint Aircraft Committee was established in September 1940 as the chief agency for coordination of Anglo-American aircraft requirements.

The Lend-Lease Act was passed by the Congress and signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in March 1941. Since Lend-Lease aircraft were still owned by the US, all were given US military designations and serial numbers. To further eliminate production problems, one branch of the US military would be responsible for ordering a specific aircraft that was to be used by the a foreign air force and/or another branch of the military. As an example, all AT-6/SNJ/Harvard aircraft were ordered by the USAAF as were the C-47/R4D/Dakota aircraft.

According to the FAA registry, this aircraft was built in 1940 but further research indicates that this is not correct. This Texan was ordered by the USAAF as an AT-6D-NT, USAAF s/n 44-81471 for the USN who designated it SNJ-5, BuNo. 91008.

The aircraft is owned by Leestown Aviation of Dover, Delaware, and is based at Republic Airport, Farmingdale, Long Island, New York."


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04/30/2007. Remarks by Jack Mckillop: "In the late 1930s and early 1940s, there was a buildup of the US military plus orders from Allied countries. This put the aircraft manufacturers in a bind because there was no priority system and they did not know how to prioritize the orders. All purchasers desired the earliest possible delivery date so on 23 July 1940, representatives of the USAAC, USN and the British Purchasing Commission arrived at an agreement on allocations to be made through 1 April 1942. The Joint Aircraft Committee was established in September 1940 as the chief agency for coordination of Anglo-American aircraft requirements. The Lend-Lease Act was passed by the Congress and signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in March 1941. Since Lend-Lease aircraft were still owned by the US, all were given US military designations and serial numbers. To further eliminate production problems, one branch of the US military would be responsible for ordering a specific aircraft that was to be used by the a foreign air force and/or another branch of the military. As an example, all AT-6/SNJ/Harvard aircraft were ordered by the USAAF as were the C-47/R4D/Dakota aircraft. According to the FAA registry, this aircraft was built in 1940 but further research indicates that this is not correct. This Texan was ordered by the USAAF as an AT-6D-NT, USAAF s/n 44-81471 for the USN who designated it SNJ-5, BuNo. 91008. The aircraft is owned by Leestown Aviation of Dover, Delaware, and is based at Republic Airport, Farmingdale, Long Island, New York."