yakdriver wrote:
N3Njeff wrote:
As for the N3N, you solo'd from the back seat & thats where the student sat and the instructor was up front. If you did solo from the front, you needed to put weight in the back seat.
Sorry but the N3N was soloed from the front. Student sat in the front, the primer fuel guage, and mixture lock were all in the front. 125lbs ballast was required for solo flight. We had a stone stock N3N and I disabled the primer lock and flew from the back seat. POH shows solo from the front. Don
Sorry Ron but that is not right! The student was taught and flew solo from the back. I have Official Navy pictures showing this and the instructor sitting up front. There was a primer pump in both cockpits for the fuel indication. Only the engine primer was in the front cockpit. If you read the Hand out Booklet printed by the Navy in 1940 called "Meet the N3N" (copies on Ebay) It shows to start the engine from the front cockpit, warm it up, then climb out and get in the back.
No where does it say in the pilots manual to solo from the front only. But it does say, IF single pilot from the front, install 125 lbs in the back seat.
I cant imagine the Navy at a airstation having 200 N3N's and keeping track of two hundered 120 lbs bags of sand for solo flights.
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Long Live the N3N-3 "The Last US Military Bi-Plane" 1940-1959
Badmouthing Stearmans on WIX since 2005
