The Texan was the preferred advanced trainer of World War II not only for the U.S. Armed Forces but also those of more than 30 allied countries. For student pilots it represented their first introduction to the demands of the high-performance aircraft they would go on to fly in combat. Considerable numbers survived their military careers by being sold to civilian purchasers.
Sport pilots value their combination of high performance and relatively low operating costs.
It's interesting to note that this World War II survivor has often been disguised to convincingly portray in movies the famous Japanese Zero fighter that was the scourge of the Pacific in the early days of the war. More than 15,000 T-6s were built in the United States, Australia, Sweden, Canada, and other countries under several names and designations such as SNJ for the U.S. Navy and the Harvard for the Royal Air Force.