North American Aviation SNJ-5
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The SNJ-5 is the Navy designation for the North American Texan, the advanced trainer that taught almost every Allied fighter pilot of the Second World War to handle a high-powered retractable-gear aeroplane. Six hundred horsepower, a constant-speed propeller, retractable gear and a tailwheel, in an airframe deliberately made demanding.
It is a warbird and must be budgeted as one. The R-1340 radial is well supported by warbird standards but an overhaul is a six-figure event, fuel burn is around 35 gallons an hour, and the airframe requires inspections that a light aircraft does not. It is genuinely difficult to fly well — the landing is famously unforgiving and the accident record reflects that — and insurance requires substantial tailwheel and type-specific training. Owners describe it as the most rewarding aeroplane they have flown and the most expensive.
Variants of the North American T-6 Texan / SNJ / Harvard
Also consider
- CubCrafters CC19-215Partial 20.5/30 · 2 seats · 145 kt
- Consolidated Vultee (Convair) BT-13APartial 14.9/30 · 2 seats · 140 kt
- Beechcraft A45Partial 9.9/30 · 2 seats · 150 kt
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What it is
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | taildragger |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Pratt & Whitney R-1340-AN-1 (radial) |
| Horsepower | 600 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | military-surplus |
| Production start | 1943 |
| Production end | 1945 |
| Endorsements required | complex;high-performance;tailwheel |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 145 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 600 nm |
| Service ceiling | 21,500 ft |
| Climb rate | 1,200 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 57 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 1,142 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 482 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 5,300 lb |
| Empty weight | 4,158 lb |
| Usable fuel | 110 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 33.6 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $200,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $350,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 1,200 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $90,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $155,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 238 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 121 |
| Median year built | 1944.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 6 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 1 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 49.591 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 41.322 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 12 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 9.923 |
| Airworthiness directives | 0 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | ok |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 121 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 121 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 121 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 1-2 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | 3 of 10 · scored on 21 years of events (fewer than 10 in the last 10)1 |
| Severity | 3.8 of 10 · scored on 21 years of events (fewer than 10 in the last 10)2 |
| Access | 2.1 of 103 |
| Support | 6 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 0.8 of 105 |
| Overall (sum of the categories shown) | 15.7 out of 506 |
These record scores treat North American Aviation SNJ-5 as one design with the same aircraft registered under other names: it includes 1 aircraft registered under NORTH AMERICAN-MEDORE; includes 1 aircraft registered under NORTH AMERICAN/BENNER R A JR; includes the record of aircraft once registered under NORTH AMERICAN/BUEHN; includes the record of aircraft once registered under NORTH AMERICAN/COURTESY ACFT. Prices are not combined.
- Accident record: class median 31.56 · 197 models in class.
- Severity: class median 10.
- Access: class median 1,000.75.
- Support: class median 89.
- Liquidity: class median 19.74.
- Each of the five categories places the model within its peer class, from 0 (the worst of the class) to 10 (the best): a position among comparable models, not a grade. The overall score is the sum of the categories shown that are scored, out of 10 for each (50 when all five are); it is given only when at least 4 of the five are scored, and it can be set against another model's only when both are in the same peer class and scored on the same categories. When accident record and severity cannot be scored because the model has too few records, the other three give a partial score out of 30, labelled as such; it is never set against a full score.
Data as of: FAA registry Sep 28 · NTSB Oct 2 · ADs Oct 6 · scores Sep 30