The Convair T-29 was used as a primary Navigation Trainer for USAF (and later USN) Officers in the 323 Flying Training Wing, Air Training Command, Mather AFB, Sacramento, CA in the 1960’s and early ‘70s. Derived from the Convair civil Model 240 airliner, the “C” model (illustrated in this article) was powered by two P&W R-2800 engines and cruised at approximately 203 mph at a nominal altitude of 18,000 ft for six hours. It carried four periscopic sextant mounts, six drift meters, one navigation radar with belly radome, and tables/chars for 14 navigator students and instructors. Cockpit aircrew was two rated pilots.
It used radio callsign “Decal.” My Nav class, #75-07, was the last group to complete all training flights in the T-29, hence the “We are the Last” on our class patch. Subsequent classes flew integrated training with both T-29 and T-43 jets until transition to all jets completed in around 1976.
Photographs and memories courtesy of Chuck Holte!
