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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.
Navy N3N
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Bill Hirzel and his
restored N3N. |
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.
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