To the left are the logos of North American Trainer Association and also the patch issued to formation qualified pilots. Read more about this below.

The North American Trainer Association (NATA) is an organization that was founded in 1985 by L. P. "Stoney" Stonich and his wife, Kathy. It was originally organized for members who owned North American AT-6/T-6/SNJ/Harvard aircraft. Later, they were asked to include the North American T-28's and later the TB-25 and TF-51 aircraft. From the North American (NAA) factories first came the BC-1 that first flew in 1937 which was the forerunner of the AT-6 that first flew in 1938. My interest is primarily with the T-6 group.

The AT-6/SNJ/Harvard was the main trainer for fighter pilots in WWII for the Army Air Corps (AT-6), U. S. Navy (SNJ) and the Royal Canadian Air Force (Harvard). The re-manufactured T-6G became the USAF primary trainer in 1951 lasting until 1958. No other trainer in history has been used by so many countries spanning the period from 1938 until 1996 when the Union of South Africa Air Force became the last air force in the world to finally retired their T-6 and Harvards. Of all types there were over 17,000 produced with a large number coming from the large NAA factory in Grand Prairie, TX located between Dallas and Ft. Worth. The Harvards were produced in Canada with most coming from the Canadian Car and Foundry plant.

In the United States today there are over 400 flyable T-6's and a large majority of these owners have joined the North American Trainer Association. The organization publishes a quarterly magazine, NATA Skylines, that contains a wealth of information about the NAA aircraft, related events, and information on formation training which is conducted by members of the organization.. In order to fly non-acrobatic formation in the waivered airspace of an air show today, pilots must be formation qualified. NATA was designated by the Experimental Aircraft Association to develop a formation program for their large air shows. Since 1988 this program has expanded to cover virtually all organizations who have members flying warbirds and have joined together in a group known as FAST (Formation and Safety Training). The FAST program is recognized and accepted by the FAA. The largest formations of former military aircraft can be seen at the Oshkosh, WI Air Show at the end of July each year. Usually the T-6 formations are the largest.

In April of 2005 I participated in a T-6 and T-28 formation clinic at Sebring, FL. One T-6 owner, John Wood, from Bartow, FL attended to get some formation instruction. John was a civilian contract T-6 instructor at Bartow AB, FL from 1951 until it closed in 1961 which was the same time I was flying T-6's at Bainbridge AF, GA as an aviation cadet. John's T-6G was actually based at Bainbridge in the 1951 era. He had lots of T-6 time but we did not fly formation in primary USAF flight schools in the T-6. John was almost 81 at the time I flew with him in Florida and I was 75. I think we may have set a record for the most number of years for two people in a T-6 at one time!. It was strange for a former cadet to be giving instruction to a former T-6 instructor pilot.

NATA has members world wide. For more information on NATA you may Email them at NATrainer@AOL.COM or visit their web site at www.NorthAmericanTrainer.org . You need not be an aircraft owner to join.