1 photo from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. Two North American A-27s intercepted from order from Siam on Nichols Field: Wikimedia Commons· Public domain
what is it?
The North American Aviation A-27 is an attack version of the North American T-6 Texan. Ten aircraft were ordered by Thailand as NA-69 light attack aircraft. Instead of being delivered to Thailand, the aircraft were taken over in October 1940 by the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) to keep them out of Japanese hands and redesignated A-27 under the USAAC aircraft designation system.
How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · 12.8 m wingspan
base stats
Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).
fun facts
- First flew 86 years ago, in 1940.
- Top speed is 3.1× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- Wingspan of 12.8 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.
spec sheet
- first flight
- 1940
- number built
- 52
- role
- ground attack
- origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- makers
- North American Aviation
- engines
- 1× Wright R-1820-F53 / R-1820
- crew
- 2
- length
- 8.9 m
- wingspan
- 12.8 m
- height
- 3.8 m
- max take-off weight
- 3,080 kg
- top speed
- 405 km/h
- cruise speed
- 355 km/h
- range
- 925 km
- ceiling
- 7,800 m
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q3109428, Wikipedia: North American A-27 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.