N3Njeff wrote:
Well I have calmed down now and feeling better so here is my story. Since a fellow WIX'er broke the news that a article on the N3N was in the current AirClassics, every day for the last 2 weeks I have been visiting or calling my local barnes & noble for the new issue. Well today they finally got it. They pulled a issue behind the counter for me and I haul'd my butt over there. Once there, I waited in line for 15 min as we are in full X-mas shopping mode. FINALLY my turn and I told them my name and they were holding a magazine for me, she retuned and put it on the counter and I screamed like a school girl when I had seen the N3N on THE COVER!!!!!!! I was oblivious to the 7.99 ISSUE price as I was too excited to see more!!! I got it out to the truck and started thumbing through it like a 10 yr old with his first playboy........AHHH the BELOVED CENTERFOLD!!!! After 2 min of glory, I turned to the article and started to read.
As fast as my excitement climbed it came crashing down as I read the "history" of my favorite airplane.
"The navy wanted to create a rugged, easy to maintain plane and the fuselage was designed with a bolted steel tube construction with large removeable side panels that would make maintenance and inspection very easy. Also flying surfaces were all metal and the entire aircraft was fabric covered" BOLTED STEEL TUBE CONSTRUCTION????????? WTF?????? Where did this come from. Every N I have ever heard built was RIVETED with EXTRUDED ALUMINUM!!! The article later posts about the markings of the N3N, that all were delivered overall yellow (except for USCG examples)
Well here ON WIX, its already been stated that no N3N's ever were Silver. They were still YELLOW!!!!! The historians in the USCG will tell you that. Then at the end of the article, they talked about the R985 engine in a T-6???? WTF!!!! My sorrow went back to the $7.99 issue price on what I paid for this crap!!!!!
I find it great that a sweet N3N is back in the air because of the Sanders family. I watched for the updates as it came together but dam. Another article that did not live up to the justice of a little unknown airplane.
This is why I LOVE WIX and I dont need to subscribe to ANY magazines for my WARBIRD FIX!!!!! So after the 1st of the year and my bank account is headed back in a Positive direction, I WILL HIT THE WIX TIP JAR!!!!!! as far as I am concerned.......MONEY WELL SPENT!!!!! Thanks all who keep it going, interesting, CORRECT and FUN!!!
Jeff, In the Air Classics I just received the editor makes this statement: "In the last issue of Air Classics, in the article "Yellow Peril Meets the Texan" I incorrectly identified the construction of the N3N-3. The construction should have been specified as riveted aluminum extrusions. Actually, the structure is similar to that of a dirigible and the Naval Aircraft Factory had a lot of experience building such structures"