A Brief History of Double Vee - A Tuskegee Airmen T-6

Double Vee was originally manufactured as a “C” model AT-6 by the North American Aircraft Company in Grand Prarie, Texas (near Dallas). It was accepted by the United States Army Air Force on March 27, 1943 and flown directly from the factory to Tuskegee, Alabama on March 30, 1943. Assigned to the 2143rd Base Unit at Tuskegee Army Airfield, Double Vee was utilized as an advanced trainer to hone the aerial combat maneuvering and gunnery skills of the fighter pilots now known as Tuskegee Airmen. It served at Tuskegee Army Airfield throughout the war until the base was closed in June of 1946.

After training in Double Vee, the Tuskegee pilots flew the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt (also known as the “Jug”) and the North American P-51 Mustang in combat. They were assigned to the 100th, 301st and 302nd Fighter Squadrons which along with the 99th Fighter Squadron, comprised the 332nd Fighter Group. One of this plane’s better known trainees was Col. Lee Archer, one of the two Tuskegee Airmen who achieved “Ace” status for their wartime accomplishments

Other places Double Vee served after Tuskegee include:

4185th Base Unit (Air transport Command), Independence, MO, (June 16, 1946)

4135th Base Unit (Air Material Command), Tinker AFB, OK (June 18, 1946)

594th Base Unit (ATC) Topeka AAF, KS (June 25, 1946 to August 12, 1946)

554th Base Unit at Memphis AAF, TN (August 14, 1946 to October 5, 1946)

42nd Base Unit at Maxwell AAF, AL (October 6, 1946 to January 3, 1948)

133rd Fighter Squadron (ANG) at Grenier AAF, NH (January 4, 1951 to January 13, 1951)

On January 14, 1951 the plane was flown to Downey, California near Los Angeles for remanufacture into a “G” model. Essentially, only the electrical, hydraulic and fuel systems were modernized and the plane was stripped down, cleaned, reassembled and assigned a new serial number. Its’ original serial number remained and was engraved on a data plate and attached to the plane. After the work at Downey was completed, Double Vee was flown to Long Beach on April 26th for further modification. Double Vee then served with the 3306th Training Group in Bainbridge, Georgia until October of 1955 and then flown to Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson, Arizona and assigned to the 3040th AST Squadron for reclamation. It was dropped from the Air Force inventory on January 18, 1956.

Double Vee was first purchased as a civilian aircraft in 1958 and had ten owners prior to its present owner, Steve Cowell. Not one of those owners realized its place in history as a trainer of the Tuskegee Airmen. Among its many uses, Double Vee was utilized as a cloud seeder as well as a plane taken for Sunday joyrides. The plane was placed for sale by the estate of it’s’ most recent previous owner thru an advertisement in “Trade-A-Plane” in August of 1997. That individual had based the plane in Blue Earth, Minnesota (about 15 miles from the Iowa/Minnesota state line) and had owned the plane for 18 years. He had ridden in the back seat while a veterinarian friend flew the plane to various fly-ins and air shows.

Approximately five months after the planes purchase by Steve and responding to his request which supplied all of the planes’ serial numbers, the United States Air Force Historical Research Agency notified Steve of the complete history of the aircraft. During the plane’s restoration, the plane was named Double Vee in honor of a historical campaign waged for African-Americans during World War Two. It stood for not only a victory abroad against the Axis powers, but a victory at home against prejudice… an un compromised victory. Double Vee has been completely restored to its’ original Tuskegee training configuration and serves to inspire and motivate everyone to realize that by keeping your heart in your dreams, you can accomplish your own un compromised victory with anything you desire…just as the Tuskegee Airmen did.

Whiteman AFB B-2 Photoshoot