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| Pvt. Joker |
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Joined: Tue Oct 11, 2005 12:22 pm
Posts: 1012
Location: Location: Location!
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From today's EAA email:
Quote:
Warbirds Training Command Returns to EAA AirVenture
Bill Hirzel's Navy N3N one of many featured aircraft
The EAA Warbirds of America created a new display area at last summer’s EAA AirVenture Oshkosh highlighting the WWII training aircraft that prepared combat pilots for their frontline cockpits. World War II Training Command was an instant hit with attendees and returns in 2007, but with a different name: It’s now called simply The Training Command.
“The name change better reflects the variety of aircraft on display,” said Rick Siegfried, Warbirds of America president. “The Training Command will have a wider variety of aircraft, including Bill Hirzel’s N3N, a prewar Consolidated PT-3, several Beechcraft trainers including a T-34, and others yet to be confirmed.”
The Beech airplanes will be a part of 75th anniversary celebrations for the company’s many contributions to military aviation.
Plans are to have all the aircraft on display and featured in individual presentations with their owners throughout the week. More information will be available at www.airventure.org as it’s confirmed.
Bill Hirzel’s restored Naval Aircraft Factory N3N, featured in the April 2007 issue of Warbirds magazine, is one of the confirmed aircraft scheduled to appear at The Training Command. It will be displayed along with a set of floats, skis, and other original equipment included with each aircraft as it left the factory.
Other biplanes of the era were built from steel tubes and wood, but the N3N is all aluminum. It was also the last aircraft designed and built at the government-operated Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia.
The Navy built 995 N3Ns--all were delivered between 1936 and 1938--for use as primary trainers along with the Stearman N2S. Since government-built N3Ns cost twice as much to build as the Stearmans, far more Naval pilots were trained in the N2S than the N3N.
Bill’s N3N was originally stationed at the NAS in Pensacola, Florida. After the war it was sold by the military as surplus and became a heavily used crop duster until the 1970s when it was worn out and put in storage. Hirzel purchased the aircraft in 1984 and restored it to its original, virtually stock condition.
Hirzel and his friends enjoy explaining the history and construction of this unique biplane trainer. Don’t miss your chance to see it at The Training Command, located in the Warbirds area adjacent to Warbirds in Review.
_________________  Commemorative Air ForceExperimental Aircraft AssociationWarbirds of AmericaWhat are you waiting for? Join us! Best way to contact me- email my last name @gmail.com
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