In 1948, the US Air Force wanted to replace the brave North American T-6. Project NA.159 North American was retained and a contract for two prototypes initially called XBT-28 (Basic Trainer), was signed. The North American T-28 Trojan was designed as a basic training aircraft and flew for the first time in September 1949. The first order, from the US Air Force, was completed in 1950 and delivered to the Air Training Command between 1950 and 1953.
In the midst of the expansion of jet aircrafts, the United States was already considering training jet pilots early in their training and did not plan any training aircraft such as the T-28. But the aircraft had a mass that characterizes it more as a weapon than training and was equipped with a modern tricycle train. His performance allowed 1194 copies in the USAF before being retired in 1956.
The US Navy also ordered T-28 for training its pilots. The T-28B received a reinforced cell and a more powerful engine as well as a three-blade Hamilton propeller. The T-28B made its first flight on April 6th, 1953. It was produced at 489 copies and remained in service until the mid-80s.
Then appeared the T-28C: a lengthened version of 55 cm, equipped with a landing gear and a smaller diameter propeller: 299 copies built between 1955 and 1957.
The need for an economic tactical support aircraft was noted by US forces stationed in South Vietnam. The anti-guerrilla T-28D were therefore equipped with machine guns, bombs and rockets. Between 1961 and 1969, North American converted 321 T-28A into a "D" model.
The French Air Force ordered 135 copies of a special version of the T-28D. These aircrafts entered service in the early sixties under the designation Fennec and were used mainly during the war in Algeria. The T-28 thus became a formidable firing platform and had offensive capabilities comparable to those of World War II fighter planes.
Finally, towards the end of the fifties, the Pac-Aero transformed T-28A by equipping them with Wright engines of 1300 hp or 1425 hp for civil use. These two last models were named Nomad 1 and 2 according to the motorization.