Naval Aircraft Factory N3N

The N3N was a United States two tandem-seat, open cockpit, primary training biplane aircraft built by the Naval Aircraft Factory (N.A.F.) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during the 1930s.

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.

Operational history
The N.A.F. delivered 997 N3N aircraft beginning in. They included 180 N3N-1s and 816 N3N-3s. Four N3N-3s were delivered to the United States Coast Guard in. 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, the 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. A Navy N3N was used as a crop sprayer in Alfred Hitchcock's film North by Northwest though after impact with the fuel tanker the wreckage is seen to be a Boeing Stearman.

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 Coast Guard
 * United States Navy
 * Paraguayan Naval Aviation Two N3N-3s received by Lend-Lease Program.
 * Paraguayan Naval Aviation Two N3N-3s received by Lend-Lease Program.
 * Paraguayan Naval Aviation Two N3N-3s received by Lend-Lease Program.

Specifications (N3N-3)


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