Best brains: Aircraft identification puzzle

[unixronin]

This photo was posted in motorcycles today.  It's there, of course, for the radial-engined motorcycle in the foreground.  But that's not what we're interested in here.

(Larger version behind the link)

What we're interested in is the aircraft.  I've been trying for about three hours to identify it, and I can't.

Let's review what's apparent from the photo:

• It's pretty safe to say this appears to be a US single-seat fighter of the WW2 era.
• The overall dark blue color scheme implies a US Navy fighter.
• It's instantly obvious that it's not an F4F Wildcat.  The wing is in totally the wrong position.  (This is a low-wing monoplane; the F4F is mid-wing.)
• It's even more obviously not an F4U Corsair.  (The wing is straight, not cranked, and the whole shape of the aircraft is totally wrong ... we're just getting this out of the way for the sake of rigorousness.)
• Neither is it an F6F Hellcat.  (The nose and cowling are the wrong shape, the cockpit is wrong, and the wing is too low.)
• The closest match in overall shape is probably an F8F Bearcat.  Except that the cowling is wrong, the prop is too small and has too few blades, and the landing gear legs look wrong.  (The outer gear doors on a Bearcat are attached much more closely to the oleos, and the inner doors are more than twice as large and shaped differently.)  Also, the wing-root radiator air intakes of the F8F are missing.  The nose looks too short, too (though if pressed, I might be willing to put that down to perspective).
• Again just for completeness, we can also totally rule out the entire carrier-based light bomber class consisting of the TBD Devastator, SBD Dauntless, TBF/TBM Avenger, and SB2C Helldiver.  None of them bear more than a superficial similarity to this aircraft.
• Equally, and again just for the sake of rigor, we can totally eliminate the P39 Airacobra, the P40 Kittyhawk/Warhawk/Tomahawk, and the P51 Mustang, all of which have inline engines, not radial.  At the same time, we also eliminate the huge P47 Thunderbolt, a far larger aircraft (and with much higher wing placement again).
• Speaking of huge aircraft, it's not an A-1D (or AD-4 or AD-6) Skyraider, either.
• Strangely, it appears to have a tricycle undercarriage, though the bike in the way rather obstructs the view.  This, too, would rule out any of the preceding aircraft.  (I can't think of anything else that white strut assembly under the nose could be, no matter how unlikely it looks.)

At which point, I'm baffled.  I can't think of anything else to check against and compare to.  There's nothing similar that I'm familiar with among British aircraft of the period.  It's not French, German or Russian (unless I'm very badly mistaken; the closest resemblance is to a Yak-11, and it's not very close), and doesn't look Japanese.  That apparent tricycle nosegear is particularly confusing.

So ... can anyone clear up the mystery and identify it?

UPDATE:

I mentally dismissed tha AT-6 (Harvard/Texan) trainer as completely dissimilar ... but then overgeneralized from this and forgot to consider any trainers at all.  Both gdmusumeci and msa failed to follow me into this oversight, however, and immediately came up with the correct answer, the North American T-28 Trojan, a post-war military trainer that I was not personally familiar with.  Despite its strong resemblance (tricycle landing gear aside) to a 1940s warbird, the Trojan was actually built from 1950 to 1957, and continued to serve into the 1970s, mainly with the US Navy.  Due to their low operating cost and generally warbird-like appearance, they are often found today in private hands being flown as warbirds.  (As the Wikipedia article notes, they actually saw service in Laos and Vietnam, the Congo and Algeria as counter-insurgency aircraft, and as late as the 1980s by rebel forces in the Phillipines.)

Comments

[gdmusumeci.livejournal.com]

The key observation here is that this is a retractable, tricycle-gear aircraft. That is very unusual for a Second World War-era fighter (they were mostly taildraggers). It also has a very large radial engine, which is unusual for a post-war airplane, and the air inlet on the top of the motor plus the side exhaust is a bit distinctive. The fuselage also looks very short.

Anyways, enough suspense: it's a North American T-28 Trojan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-28_Trojan) trainer.

[tomatoe333.livejournal.com]

I was going to guess that it was an T-6, but it's been a while since I've seen one up close at an air show. The older trainers are very common airshow vehicles, because they're less valuable than the real warbirds are. Since they're two-seaters, they can be hired out to give rides to people with money to burn, as well. :-)

[gdmusumeci.livejournal.com]

There are a few good hints it's not a T-6: there's an air intake on the nose, the root of the vertical stabilizer is faired well, and it's got tricycle gear. The canopy's a bit different as well.

And, of course, it looks nothing like the (much newer) T-6 Texan II, one of which I would very much like. :-)

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Ahhhh...... I didn't think to look at trainers. I forgot that there was another radial-engined monoplane trainer besides the AT-6 Texan/Harvard (which of course bears it little resemblance, to the point that they've been used in Hollywood movies to substitute for the Mitsubishi Zero).

[msa.livejournal.com]

I was just about to say T-28, but it looks like GP beat me to it.

Ahh, radial engines.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Wow, Majdi sign! :)

I mentally dismissed the AT-6 as obviously wrong, and completely forgot about the T-28.

[cymrullewes.livejournal.com]

You live! How are you doing?

And we finally got the gift to GP. He laughed muchly so it was a win. :-) I do wish I could have seen his face when he opened the box and saw the glass shoe.

When are you going to be in the Metro-Boston area? Don't forget summer is birthday season around here so if you want to show up we'll probably be having a party. Such as next Saturday. Goose will be 12. Then June 30 Wen's 5th birthday party happens. Then June 21 we have Pirate's 7th birthday party.
Then either first or second weekend of August will hold Alaric's birthday party.

[ilcylic.livejournal.com]

Goose will be 12.

Christ almighty.

[trebor1415.livejournal.com]

The T-28 is a wild ride! I got to fly in one when I was reporter and they were doing media rides to promote a local airshow. I had a chance to take the controls and it's extraordinarily responsive. Performanc wise, it could eat the lunch of most, of not all, of the WWII fighters. It is near the epitome of the designs of that era. It's probably the closest I'll ever get to the controls of a WWII figther.