Naval Aircraft Factory N3N

Development and design

Built to replace the Consolidated NY-2 and NY-3, the N3N was successfully tested as both a conventional airplane and a seaplane. The seaplane used a single float under the fuselage and floats under the outer tips of the lower wing. The conventional airplane used a fixed landing gear. The prototype XN3N-1 was powered by a radial Wright designed Wright J-5 engine. An order for 179 production aircraft was received. Near the end of the first production run the engine was replaced with the Wright R-760-2 Whirlwind radial. The aircraft is constructed of metal using bolts and rivets rather than the more common welded steel tubing fuselages. Early production models used aluminum stringers formed for cancelled airship construction orders.

Operational history

The N.A.F. delivered 997 N3N aircraft beginning in 1935. They included 180 N3N-1s and 816 N3N-3s. Four N3N-3s were delivered to the United States Coast Guard in 1941. Production ended in January 1942 but the type remained in use through the rest of World War II. The N3N was the last biplane in US military service - the last (used by the U.S. Naval Academy for aviation familiarization) were retired in 1961. The N3N was also unique in that it was an aircraft designed and manufactured by an aviation firm wholly owned and operated by the U.S. government (the Navy, in this case) as opposed to private industry. For this purpose, the U.S. Navy bought the rights and the tooling for the Wright R-760 series engine and produced their own engines. These Navy built engines were installed on Navy built airframes.

Postwar, many surviving aircraft were sold on the US civil aircraft market and bought for operation by agricultural aerial spraying firms and private pilot owners. A number are still (2014) active in the USA.

Variants

XN3N-1

First prototype aircraft, Bureau of Aeronautics number 9991.

N3N-1

Two-seat primary trainer biplane, powered by a 220-hp (164-kW) Wright J-5 radial piston engine. 179 were built.

XN3N-2

One prototype only (Bureau number 0265) powered by a 240-hp (179-kW) Wright R-760-96 radial piston engine.

XN3N-3

One production N3N-1 (0020) was converted into a 'dash three' prototype.

N3N-3

Two-seat primary trainer biplane, powered by a 235-hp (175-kW) Wright R-760-2 Whirlwind 7 radial piston engine. 816 built.

Operators

 United States

United States Coast Guard

U.S. Marines

United States Navy

 Paraguay

Paraguayan Naval Aviation Two N3N-3s received by Lend-Lease Program.

Aircraft on display

1918 - On display at the Warhawk Air Museum in Nampa, Idaho.

2582 - On display at the Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum in Hood River, Oregon.

2621 - On display at the Yanks Air Museum in Chino, California.

2693 - On display at the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, Florida.

2782 - On display at the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum in Reading, Pennsylvania.

2827 - On display at the Yanks Air Museum in Chino, California.

2831 - On display at the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon.

2892 - On display at the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

2951 - On display at the Kalamazoo Aviation History Museum in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

2959 - On display at the USS Lexington Museum in Corpus Christi, Texas.

3022 - On display at the National Air and Space Museum's Udvar Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia.

3046 - On display at the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, Florida.

4480 - On display at the Yanks Air Museum in Chino, California.

4497 - On display at the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona.

Specifications (N3N-3)

Data from Holmes, 2005. p. 96.

General characteristics

Crew: 2

Length: 25 ft 6 in (7.77 m)

Wingspan: 34 ft 0 in (10.36 m)

Height: 10 ft 10 in (3.3 m)

Wing area: 305 ft² (28.3 m²)

Empty weight: 2,090 lb (948 kg)

Gross weight: 2,792 lb (1,266 kg)

Powerplant: 1 × Wright R-760-2 Whirlwind radial, 235 hp (175 kW)

Performance

Maximum speed: 126 mph (203 km/h)

Range: 470 miles (756 km)

Service ceiling: 15,200 ft (4,635 m)

Rate of climb: 900 ft/min ( m/s)

Communications were done by the instructor through a speaking tube to the aft-seated student. Communications back were agreed-upon gestures.