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US Navy T-28
The Navy acquired the T-28 Trojan, manufactured by North American Aviation, to use as a basic trainer from 1952-1984, replacing the venerable SNJ. Navy T-28s were derived from an Air Force trainer design, the T-28A, with one very notable exception in that they had twice as much horsepower.
The T-28 had the look, feel, sound, and power of early World War II fighters, something the Navy desired it to have when it entered training service mid-century. Powerful but predictable, the aircraft was an ideal trainer, although it was not pressurized and lacked ejection seats.
Students found the T-28 sturdy and roomy, with great visibility. In flight it was both responsive and docile, and fully aerobatic. It could be safely spun from relatively low altitudes and counted upon for a nearly instantaneous recovery. Control response was quick, despite the T-28’s lack of hydraulically boosted controls, though over the wide range of the aircraft’s flight regime pilots had to trim the aircraft incessantly. Slow fight, as necessitated by carrier operations, were particularly impressive, as was the power response of the large radial engine.
Toilet paper bombs
Marine Corps major Ben “Lobo” Taggart tells a cool story about the T-28 days in his book What’s Your Call Sign? which is filled with cleverly written and funny stories behind the seemingly mean-spirited nicknames naval aviators use to address each other as terms of endearment.
Taggart;
‘Back in the old days, “when men were men and goats were afraid,” they flew a beast of an aircraft called the T-28 at flight school. The T-28 was a massive single-engine propeller-driven airplane, which I am told was a bear to fly.
‘It had air brakes that could be extended by the pilots to slow the aircraft down, since it weighed so much and the wheel brakes needed all the help they could get when landing. The air brakes were essentially flat surfaces that could be extended out from both sides of the fuselage to create drag and slow the aircraft.
‘These air brakes were also used for some prelanding shenanigans. When the air brakes were stowed, there was enough space underneath the surfaces to stash flattened rolls of toilet paper. Upon returning from a training flight, the pilot would open the air brakes and bomb the field duty officer shack with harmless rolls of toilet paper. This was common and all fun and games until it almost got someone hurt.
Solid chunks of rolled death
‘An instructor pilot loaded his air breaks with toilet paper bombs and took his student up for an instrument flight. At altitude they flew through clouds and the toilet paper rolls got wet. They also froze into solid chunks of rolled death as the freezing layer was much lower than usual.
‘As the T-28 came in for its “bombing run” the air brakes were opened, and solid chunks of toilet paper ice rolls went smashing into the FDO shack. The FDO ran for his life and the shack was completely destroyed.’
Taggart concludes;
‘That was the end of toilet paper bombing at flight school. Nice bombing run, though.’
What’s Your Call Sign? is published by Schiffer Publishing and is available to order here.
Photo credit: Summerdrought via Wikipedia
