The electric whine of the starter motor gives way to a chug, then a rumble of the radial engine and the sweet perfume of high-octane exhaust. There’s no doubt about it: You’re aboard a genuine vintage warbird, a rare SNJ—the US Navy’s version of the workhorse T-6 Texan trainer—that rolled off the North American Aviation assembly line in 1943.

If your idea of a good time is a flyover of Pearl Harbor recreating flight paths from the Day of Infamy in an actual aircraft of the era, then Pearl Harbor Warbirds is the outfit for you. Your immersive two-hour experience begins at Kalaeloa Airport with a simulated mission briefing, where you suit up in authentic WWII-era flight gear. Then you hop into the copilot’s seat under the Plexiglas canopy of the restored SNJ for a one-of-kind flight over O‘ahu, including retracing some of the same routes the Japanese attack planes used.

But the real star of the show is the airplane itself. First designed in the 1930s, the T-6 was a very advanced aircraft for the era, when all-metal wings and retractable landing gear were premium options. They were manufactured by the thousands and served for decades as a key training plane for generations of combat pilots.

Flying copilot in this classic is like riding in a ’57 Chevy, with the smell of old metal, the thrum of the giant motor and vintage gauges staring at you through history. The plane is tricky enough to fly that “it’s probably the perfect trainer,” says Dave Presta, one of the pilots who flies the Pearl Warbirds tours operated by Paradise Helicopters. “It’s got plenty of power but a short wheelbase, and it’s difficult in a crosswind.” And he should know, having first started restoring an old T-6 with his dad when he was just nine years old.

Presta says he particularly enjoys taking up old-timers who were once young pilots training in the T-6 on their way to combat. “Meeting and flying with these guys of that era … you can’t describe it,” he says. “It’s emotional for the both of us.”

PearlHarborWarbirds.com