At the International Sanicole Airshow 2026, a legendary classic training aircraft will be unleashed that hasn’t appeared at our show for a number of years and will take centre-stage in our country for the first time as part of the Flying Bulls: the T-28 Trojan.
Built in the 1950s by North American Aviation, the T-28 Trojan was no ordinary trainer. With its muscular radial engine and side-by-side seating, instructor and student shared the cockpit, every movement visible, every correction immediate. It was the perfect bridge into the jet age, powerful enough to prepare young pilots for the speed and demands of a new generation of combat aircraft. The United States Navy even equipped it with a tailhook, allowing trainees to practice carrier takeoffs and landings on short, unforgiving decks.
But the Trojan was more than a classroom in the sky. It proved itself in real-world operations as a close air support and light strike aircraft, flying in conflicts such as the Indochina War and the Algerian War. Nearly 2,000 were built between 1950 and 1957, serving with air forces around the world, including South Vietnam, Laos, and the Philippines.
Today, thanks to The Flying Bulls collection based at Hangar-7 in Salzburg, this classic warbird flies again. And it does far more than cruise past. Fully aerobatic and fitted with smokepods beneath its wings, the Trojan paints the sky with long white trails as it powers through solo loops and rolls, weaving between dramatic passes by the Flying Bulls warbird formation.
Come feel the engine’s heartbeat, watch the smoke carve its signature across the sky, and experience a legend that taught generations to fly and admire the T-28 Trojan live at the International Sanicole Airshow at Hechtel-Eksel in Belgium on 12-13 September 2026.
Credits: Flying Bulls
