North American Aviation’s “T-6, SNJ, Harvard” Texan was one of the most important aircrafts developed during the 1930’s. As an advanced trainer for the military, AT-6 for the Army, SNJ for the Navy and Harvard for Canada, it featured retractable landing gear, increased power (600 HP), and more sophisticated controls, as well as two .30 caliber machine guns, gun camera and bomb rack fittings. Through its career the AT-6 served as a trainer for instrument flight, aerobatics, bombing and gunnery, and, equipped with a tail hook, as an aircraft for carrier qualifications.
Kevin J. Russo was born in Montreal, Canada and now makes his home in North Branch, New Jersey with his daughter Spenser who is 17 years old and happens to be his crew chief. Kevin was 15 years old when he started to fly. He soloed on his 16th birthday and received his pilot’s license on his 17th birthday. Kevin went on to get his Commercial, Instrument, Multi-Engine and Instructor ratings by the age of 19. He now holds Commercial Glider, Helicopter and ATP ratings and has logged over 23,000 hours flying military, airliners and corporate aircraft.
