Aircraft model
NORTH AMERICAN T-6
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The T-6G is the postwar rebuild of the Texan, remanufactured from wartime airframes for the US Air Force with an updated cockpit, a steerable tailwheel, increased fuel and a revised propeller. It is the most developed version of the type and generally the one to want.
Everything about ownership is warbird ownership. The R-1340 radial is well supported relative to other wartime engines but an overhaul runs into six figures, and it burns around 35 gallons an hour. The airframe needs inspections a light aircraft does not, and many have complex rebuild histories across several countries that take real work to verify. Flying it is demanding — the landing is famously unforgiving — and insurers require substantial tailwheel time plus formal type-specific training. It remains among the most rewarding aeroplanes available to a civilian pilot.
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- NORTH AMERICAN T-6
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 | 1949 |
| Production end | 1953 |
| Endorsements required | complex;high-performance;tailwheel |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 145 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 700 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 | 1,346 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 686 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 5,617 lb |
| Empty weight | 4,271 lb |
| Usable fuel | 110 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 33.6 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $239,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $349,000 |
| 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 | 25 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 1 |
| Median year built | 1951.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | — |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | — |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 0 |
| Transfers per 100 active | — |
| Airworthiness directives | 0 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | none |
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 1-2 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | —3 |
| Support | 0.8 of 104 |
| Liquidity | —5 |
- Accident record: class median 29.1 · 174 models in class.
- Severity: class median 9.09.
- Access: class median 974.
- Support: class median 81.
- Liquidity: class median 20.47.
- 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.