North American AT-6 Texan Warbird Airplane Rides, August 1st & 2nd, 2025

Kestrel Warbirds of Middletown, Ohio, will be offering living history ride experiences in their North American AT-6 Texan "Checkers", this coming weekend, August 2nd & 3rd at the Liberty Aviation Museum in Port Clinton, Ohio.  Known as the Pilot Maker, the T-6 Texan (AT6, Harvard, SNJ) was the backbone for advanced pilot training for WWII and beyond for the U.S. and allied forces.  In Korea, "Mosquito Squadrons" flew the aircraft into combat marking targets for the much faster jets of the era.  Mostly retired after the war, these aircrafts were used by militaries across the world for decades, with South Africa retiring the T-6 as recently as 1995.

Kestrel Warbirds' "Checkers" T-6 is a G model aircraft and was produced in 1952.  It was taken on Strength/Charge with the United States Army Air Force with serial number 5114913 that same year.  It has a Pratt and Whitney R1340, 9-cylinder radial engine with 600 horsepower and carries 110 gallons of fuel and 10 gallons of oil.  Carrying a crew of two, it was equipped with two .30 caliber machine guns during its military days, located in the nose and wing.  The opposite wing carried a camera to review the pilot’s target footage. Though disabled, "Checkers" retains the barrel of one machine gun, visible in the nose. 

 

The North American Aviation AT-6 Texan is one of the most popular warbirds with a history that is second to none and you can take a living history plane ride in this plane this weekend! Advance ticketing is available at www.kwbirds.com or by calling 937-830-9799.  You can also purchase a ride at the Liberty Aviation Museum on August 2^nd &  3^rd in person on those days.  Living history plane rides go on between 9am-5pm both days (early morning before 9am and evening hours past 5pm are available, but prebook is required as it is outside of museum operating hours.)  A ticket for a 15 minute airtime ride, (does not include taxi time, take off, landing, boarding, and disembarking, approximate total experience is 30 minutes) is $350.00 cash price, if paying by card there is a processing fee.  Other extended experiences are available during their visit. See the website, call, or stop in.  There is no charge just to come out and see the plane on the museum ramp during operating hours.

 

The Liberty Aviation Museum is a 501c3 non-profit organization, located at the Erie-Ottawa International Airport (PCW) at 3515 East State Road, Port Clinton, Ohio. For more information on this event or other museum events, please visit: www.libertyaviationmuseum.org or Call 419.732.0234.