Highland Lakes Squadron Burnet, TX

PT-26 More Info

The 'PT-19' in our hangar is owned by the CAF. It was built in Canada as a PT-26 serial number 42-65935 by Fleet Aircraft and entered service with the RCAF in 1943. In 1956 it was issued a civilian Airworthiness Certificate. It was last flown in 1989. We transported the plane from CAF Midland where it was on static display to our hangar in December 2005. Our intention is to restore the plane to flying status without the canopy. Thus the reference to it as a PT-19. In the late 1930s, using his own money, Sherman Fairchild funded the design of an aircraft to satisfy the US Army Air Corps' call for a primary trainer. Among other requirements the plane was to be built largely from... ...

SNJ-4 texan More Info

The T-6 based in our hangar is the Navy version known as the SNJ-4. The aircraft is owned by the CAF. It came off the assembly line in 1943. Its operational history is currently being investigated. The AT-6 advanced trainer was one of the most widely used aircraft in history. Evolving from the BC-1 basic combat trainer ordered in 1937, 19,757 Texans were built between 1938 and 1945. The AAF procured 10,057 AT-6s; others went to the Navy as SNJs and to more than 30 Allied nations. Production continued in Canada until 1954. Japan acquired a license to build the BC-1 in 1939. The Japanese Navy procured 176 for use as intermediate trainers designated Kyushu K10W1. The Allied code name was... ...

L-17 Navion More Info

Our aircraft, N444AC, was built as a civilian Navion A. The aircraft came off the Ryan assembly line in 1948. It differs from the military L-17B only in the location of some of the instruments (both versions flunk ergonomic instrument placement). It is owned by the Commemorative Air Force. The Highland Lakes Squadron obtained the aircraft in 1996. Its history prior to that time is currently being investigated. At the end of WW-II North American Aviation resumed manufacturing civilian aircraft, and the NA-145 Navion, nicknamed "the poor man’s Mustang", was its first post-war product. It first flew in April 1946. The Army Air Forces ordered 83 military versions under the designation... ...

C-47 Skytrain "Texas Zephyr" More "Texas Zephyr" Info

The C-47 *Texas Zephyr* was built in Oklahoma City in late 1944 as a C-47B serial number 43-49942; then flown to Montreal, Canada where it was transferred to Great Britain under the Lend-Lease program. The aircraft was ferried to England and served with the RAF. In 1945 it was assigned to the No. 435 Transport Squadron, a Canadian unit as KN270. It was ferried to Canada in 1946. The aircraft received the Canadian Forces serial 12909 in 1970. It was surplussed and entered civilian service in 1974. From 1974 until 1995, the aircraft was owned by a number of Canadian airline and charter companies, after which it was repatriated to the U.S. This aircraft was donated it to the CAF in January... ...