Yellow peril!

Air Classics, Mar 2001 by O'Leary, Michael

THE YANKS AIR MUSEUM HAS THE WORLD'S LARGEST COLLECTION Of WORLD WAR TWO'S CLASSIC NAVAL AIRCRAfT FACTORY N3N TRAINERS

When the United States Navy began to look for a new training aircraft in 1934, the service was still using the rather primitive Consolidated NY-2 and NY-3 while the Stearman NS-1 was being tested as a factory-funded civil prototype (and which would eventually develop into the classic Kaydet series of training biplanes). The Navy had a fair supply of Wright J-5 220-hp radial engines in storage. These powerplants had not been produced since 1929 and the Navy, in a rather non-bureaucratic move, wanted to utilize the engines. It was decided that the Naval Aircraft Factory would come up with a new trainer design that would be powered by the J-5.

The design was created for simplicity and ruggedness and the main structure was all metal. The fuselage was built of bolted-together steel tubing and had removable side panels. This method of construction was extremely strong and the large removable panels allowed nearly instant access to the interior. The wings and tail group were all-metal and fabric covered.

The prototype XN3N-1 was rapidly completed and first flown in August 1935. The plane was tested at the NAF's facility in Philadelphia and at NAS Anacostia where it was flown with both land gear and floats. Testing proved the new aircraft eminently satisfactory and it was ordered into production with a contract for 179 N3N-- 1s - the first of which was delivered to the Navy during June 1936.

Bv this time, the Navy was building its own variant of the Wright J-6-7, known as the R-- 760-96. Developing 240-hp, the engine was a step above the Wright J-5 which had been classified as obsolete. Accordingly, a contract for a single XN3N-2 was issued while the fourth N3N-1 was rebuilt as the XN3N-3. Both machines were fitted with the R-760-96, which was also being utilized in the Consolidated NY-- 3. The final 20 aircraft on the N3N-1 contract were fitted with the R-760-96 on the production line while the remaining aircraft already delivered were eventually retrofitted with R-760-- 2 radials of 235-hp.

When the N3N-1 contract was completed in 1938, it was followed by a revision of the design. The rear fuselage was deepened while the tail surfaces were redesigned and a single strut landing gear was added to eliminate that rather complex strut arrangement of the earlier models. Of interest, the N3Nis had been delivered with a wide anti-drag engine cowling but these were often eliminated in service and the new N3N-3 did not feature the cowling since higher speed was not really a requisite of primary training.

The Navy contracted for a whopping 816 N3N-3s and this included four examples for the US Coast Guard (serials V193-V196). Power came from a Wright R-760-2 and the new trainers were rapidly war mainly went to operators in the widely expanding field of agricultural aviation. Snapped up for around $500 each, N3Ns were subjected to about every airframe modification possible as they were converted into dusters and sprayers. It is of interest to note that some of the earliest fire bombers were N3Ns fitted with a water tank and a door through which the water could be dropped on fires. Most ag operators purchased even cheaper Vultee BT-13 Valiants (usually going for about $250 from the government) which were utilized as parts bins for the N3Ns. The N3Ns were fitted with the more efficient BT-13 wheels and tires and sometimes the engines were also removed and added to the N3Ns. Some Yellow Perils also received BT-13 canopy sections to enclose the pilot's cockpits.

The N3N fleet, in decreasing numbers, soldiered on into the 1970s when newer and more efficient ag equipment made replacement virtually mandatory. During that time period, N3N hulks could be found in the weeds at almost any ag field across the United States.

As interest in the Warbird movement grew, some of the ag birds were purchased and restored back to their original military configuration - no small task since the ag modifications were so extensive. During this time period Warbird collector Charles Nichols made a purchase of no less than two dozen N3Ns and moved the aircraft to his base at Chino, California. Nichols was beginning to draw up plans for a major aviation collection that would include a wide variety of World War Two and classic aircraft. Under the name Yanks Air Museum, the collection began to come together and expand in several large hangars at Chino.

"Currently, we have four N3Ns restored and on display," states museum director Ron Blondell. "One is fitted with floats and it was particularly hard to find the central float but we did find one in a northern California trailer park where a lady was using it as a planter in her garden!" Two of the other restorations are fitted with land gear and finished in their standard overall yellow color scheme while the fourth example, also on landing gear, has been left uncovered so that visitors may inspect the interior of the aircraft.