The North American T-6 Texan was designed by North American Aviation in 1937 under the designation NA-26 as a single-engine fighter trainer for military pilots transitioning from low-powered primary trainers to high-performance front-line fighters.

By number it is the most prolific fighter trainer ever built with a total of 15,495 aircraft, including all variants, being produced. It trained pilots of the United States Army Air Force, the United States Navy, the Royal Air Force and the Royal Canadian Air Force and other air forces of the British Commonwealth during World War II and as recently as the 1970s.

It is known by several designations. The USAAF designated in the AT-6—Advanced Trainer. The United States Navy designated it SNJ, with the S standing for Scout. The RAF designated it the Harvard. It has also over time gathered several other monikers such as ‘the pilot maker’ and ‘the window breaker’.

The Harvard is a two-seat tandem seat aircraft with metal fuselage and wings and fabric control services. It is powered by a Pratt & Whitney R1340-AN-1 Wasp air-cooled, nine-cylinder, supercharged radial engine rated at 550HP.