Taken at the Edwards AFB Airshow 2005 on Sunday, October 23rd. Edwards AFB Photo Gallery is NOW ONLINE! Click Here to view the gallery with 500 photos from the show. -------------------------------------------- The legend of the T-6 Texan is well known by any aviation enthusiast. Debateably called the worlds most famous and best trainer aircraft to ever grace the skies, the North American T-6 Texan made it's debut shortly before World War 2 as America's prime trainer of the time. It was quite the improvement from the biplane Stearmans that had been used, finally pilots in training could train with a much more powerful monoplane design that matched many of the frontline aircraft. Throughout World War 2, the Texan was the staple of American Flight Training serving all throughout the country training pilots to fly fighters such as the P-51 Mustang and P-47 Thunderbolt. The Navy even adopted the trainer and designated it an SNJ Texan for their own training and it went forward to train pilots to fly fighters such as the F4U Corsair and F6F Hellcat. While the Texan wasn't exactly a frontline fighter by any standards, when fitted with guns for target practice the T-6 Texan became an AT-6 Texan (A for Attack). The Texan lived on well past the war and continued to train pilots for a long time. Even once America shifted to Jet equipped trainers as the jet age was emerging, other countries scooped up the Texans for their own training. While today you will probably only ever see T-6 Texans in museums, flying at airshows, or racing at the Reno Air Races... the Texan lives on in a new breed... the T-6A Texan II. Developed by Raytheon Aircraft, the T-6A Texan II was built for a two-seat primary trainer to train Joint Primary Pilot Training Students. The first operational Texan II was delivered in May of 2000, but was dubbed the Texan II in 1997 to commemerate the earlier T-6 Texan milestone. When put next to the T-6 Texan of WW2, the new T-6A Texan II looks like some futureistic aircraft with the technology on board almost alienish. The new Texan II offers new pilots the tchnology of today's fighter aircraft and is able to perform in ways the Texan would could never have. While the T-6 Texan of the past may only be seen as a historical warbird, the new Texan II will continue the spirit well into the future. The Orange Aircraft is a North American AT-6G Texan, and the blurred aircraft is the brand new Raytheon T-6A Texan II. Taken with a Canon Rebel XT EOS 350D (8mp) and Canon 100-400mm USM IS F4.5L lens.