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North American NJ-1 1940
The North American NA-16 was the first trainer aircraft built by North American Aviation, Inc. and was the beginning of a line of North American trainer aircraft that would number more than 17,000 derivatives. The NA-16 was a single engine, low-wing monoplane with tandem seating in open cockpits and fixed landing gear. A Wright Whirlwind radial air-cooled engine of 400 hp powered the aircraft. While it was mostly of metal construction, the rear fuselage was fabric covered.
The NA-16 flew for the first time on April 1, 1935 and was submitted to the U.S. Army Air Corps for evaluation as a basic trainer. The Army accepted the trainer for production but with some significant changes. These changes included replacing the Wright engine with a Pratt and Whitney R-1340 engine and enclosing the cockpits as well as fairing the landing gear. The modified NA-16 was re-designated by North American as the NA-18.
In Australia, the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation produced 755 units of a modified version of the NA-16 known there as the Wirraway between 1939 and 1946, some of the aircraft seeing active service against Japanese forces in Bougainville, Malaya and New Guinea.
General characteristics: Crew: two, Length: 27 ft 7 in (8.41 m), Wingspan: 42 ft (12.80 m), Height: ft ( m), Wing area: ft² ( m²), Empty: 3,078 lb (1399 kg), Loaded: lb ( kg), Maximum takeoff: lb ( kg), Powerplant: 1× Wright Whirlwind 400 shp (298.4 kW) each Performance: Maximum speed: 170 mph (273.7 km/h), Range: 700 miles (1127 km), Service ceiling: ft ( m), Rate of climb: ft/min ( m/min), Wing loading: lb/ft² ( kg/m²), Power/mass: 0. hp/lb (0. kW/kg). Armament: None
USN 09 René Hieronymus Scale 1:72 Building time 11 hrs.
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