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The Webmeister Drives a Three-Wheeler

AT-6/SNJ Texan

Yep, that is your Webmeister in the front seat. Besides being a BMW rider for many years (and a computer geek), I have been an aviation enthusiast as well, specifically for World War II warbirds.

Well, recently for a major birthday, my loving spouse presented me with one of the nicest presents ever — a full hour in this AT-6 Texan ↗ 1 (which is actually older than me). The flight included full aerobatics, a video of the entire flight from three cameras, and I had control of the aircraft for almost all of the hour. Number 41 is a 600 horsepower version.

It was even more fun than an R1100S on a curvy back road. At 10,000 feet, you can fly upside-down. We did almost all of the BACM (Basic Air Combat Maneuvers), including rolls, loops, Immelmanns, Split-Ses, Cuban-8s, reverse Cuban-8s, snap rolls, and hammerhead stalls. From the seat of your BMW motorcycle, you don't ever want to look UP and see the Earth!

Being a non-pilot, I studied beforehand. I was already familiar with what I needed to do - just lacked the experience. There was a time long ago where I really did do some flying. There is only one maneuver I have never done - a landing. Smiley

Based in Kissimmee, Florida, Warbird Adventures ↗ (turn up your speakers!) comes to Geneseo Airport for the month of July. Perhaps you would like to join me next year...

If you are interested, read another pilot's description ↗ about flying the AT-6. The article contains numerous pictures and may take awhile to load.

Addendum 19 Sep 2011: it appears Number 41 has been retired. I found this photo by Jason Grant:
SNJ 41 Retired and static ↗

  1. The U.S. Navy named it the SNJ, and the Brits and Canadians called it a Harvard, but Texan exudes more... macho! Don't you think?


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