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24-425: The NY-1 was essentially a PT-1 with provisions for the wheeled landing gear to be replaced by a single large float under the fuselage and two stabilising floats under the tips of the lower wing. A larger vertical tail was added to counter the effect of the floats. The NY-2 had a longer span wing fitted to overcome the high wing-loading issue of the seaplane version. Tested with complete success during October 1926,

48-541: A displacement of 788 in (12.91 L). In a 1928 report on transcontinental aviation, the author disclosed the cost of a typical five-seat commercial aircraft as $ 12,500, of which $ 5,000 was for one of the 350 200 hp Whirlwind Engines available that year. The J-5 was the last of the original nine-cylinder Whirlwinds. In 1928, it was replaced by the seven-cylinder Whirlwind J-6 . Many Whirlwind engines were used in U.S. Navy aircraft, mostly in trainers, but also in some ship-based observation and fighter aircraft. As

72-541: A further 300 engines from 1935 to 1938. Polish-built J-5s were used in numerous Polish aircraft, mostly in military training, observation, and liaison aircraft. Some museums which have J-5 Whirlwinds (or the military R-790 equivalents) on display: Also on display at the San Francisco International Airport, International Terminal. Older Whirlwinds on display are harder to find. The National Museum of Naval Aviation has two J-4s, one of which

96-644: A more powerful 110 hp (82 kW) Le Rhone . The USAAS then ordered ten examples of this improved model, and these were the last U.S. Army aircraft to be delivered with a rotary-engine. Appreciating that this type of power plant had passed its development peak, the USAAS then contracted for three examples of the TW-3 (Trainer, Water-cooled, Type 3) with a 150 hp (112 kW) Wright-Hispano I V8 . The revised type clearly had greater long-term potential, and in June 1923

120-638: A new primary trainer. In the early summer of 1924, the USAAS tested a prototype unofficially designated TW-8 and placed an order for 50 examples of the Consolidated Model 1 production variant for service with the designation PT-1 . Early production models had flat dorsal turtledecks, soon replaced by a faired version, and some of the first ones were likely built at the Gallaudet plant in Norwich before production began at Buffalo. The first 171 of

144-646: Is a biplane primary trainer used by the United States Army Air Service (USAAS) in the 1920s. In 1921, Colonel Virginius Clark, chief designer of the Dayton-Wright Company , designed the Chummy sporting biplane. The airframe was advanced in its use of the new Clark Y thick-section airfoil and a welded fuselage framework of chrome-molybdenum steel tubing. A departure from the all-wood structures found in other trainers,

168-596: The Spirit of St. Louis , powered by a single Whirlwind J-5C. During Lindbergh's flight, the engine ran continuously for 33.5 hours. Lindbergh's achievement greatly boosted the Whirlwind's already good reputation. Some other historic long-duration flights made in aircraft powered by the J-5 Whirlwind: Charles L. Lawrance , who developed the original Whirlwind series and became president of Wright, won

192-517: The National Guard flying programme until retired in the early 1930s. Data from Eden & Moeng (2002) General characteristics Performance Wright J-5 The Wright R-790 Whirlwind was a series of nine-cylinder air-cooled radial aircraft engines built by Wright Aeronautical Corporation , with a total displacement of about 790 cubic inches (12.9 L) and around 200 horsepower (150 kW). These engines were

216-560: The 1927 Collier Trophy for his work on air-cooled radial aircraft engines. The J-5 Whirlwind was built by Hispano-Suiza in France . The Whirlwind J-5 was also produced under license in Poland by several makers. Among these were Polskie Zakłady Skody , the Polish branch of Škoda Works , which built about 350 to 400 engines from 1929 to 1931, and the Polish firm Avia , which manufactured

240-482: The 221 produced used a streamlined nose radiator, the remainder used an un-faired installation. One PT-1 airframe was completed as XPT-2 with a 220 hp (164 kW) Wright J-5 radial engine. The PT-1 became the first training airplane purchased by the USAAS in substantial quantity following World War I. Aviation cadets in Texas and California flew it extensively during the late 1920s and early 1930s. It acquired

264-606: The J-1 engine, introducing the J-3, J-4, J-4A, and J-4B. The changes improved the engine's reliability, cooling, and fuel consumption, but the basic design, dimensions, and performance were unaltered. The J-4 was the first engine to bear the Whirlwind name; previous engines used only the alphanumeric code. The J-5 Whirlwind, introduced in 1925, was a complete redesign of the engine with greatly improved cooling and breathing, further increasing its reliability and reducing fuel consumption. Among

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288-638: The JN-4D, the PT-1 supplanted this wholly obsolescent type and was responsible for a radical improvement in the safety record of US Army pilot training. One of the aircraft was diverted to the US Navy for trials, and four other generally similar aircraft were delivered to Siam in 1928. From 1928 the PT-1 was replaced in frontline service by the Consolidated PT-3 , but then became a valuable implement in

312-540: The Navy ordered 181 with the uprated R-790-8 Wright Whirlwind J-5 engine of 220  hp (160 kW). The NY-3 aircraft were similar to the NY-2 but had 240 hp (180 kW) Wright R-760 -94 engines. The NY-1's first flight was November 1925, with deliveries starting May 1926. The NY-2 ' s first flight was October 1926. The Navy had 108 in active use in 1929, with 35 more assigned to reserve squadrons. The NY-3

336-593: The Navy's business, Wright complied in 1923 and the Lawrance J-1 became the Wright J-1. By the time Lawrance merged with Wright, it had already developed the more powerful J-2, a version of the J-1 with slightly enlarged bore and displacement. However, Lawrance decided the J-1 was large enough, and the J-2 never went into production; only two examples were built. Over the next two years, Wright gradually refined

360-417: The Navy, the major U.S. aircraft engine makers, Wright and Curtiss , were satisfied with their liquid-cooled engines and showed no interest in building air-cooled engines. Since the Navy was already a major buyer of Wright engines, it pressured Wright into purchasing Lawrance and building the J-1 itself, by informing the company that the Navy would buy no more of its existing engines or spare parts. To retain

384-691: The USAAS contracted for 20 TW-3 production aircraft, together with enough spare parts for the construction of another three aircraft. At this time the General Motors Corporation was thinking of pulling out of the aircraft business and closing its Dayton-Wright subsidiary, so Reuben H. Fleet of the Gallaudet Aircraft Corporation secured rights to the Dayton-Wright trainer design. When Gallaudet shareholders expressed disapproval at this move, Fleet left

408-514: The company and established the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation . It was to this new company the TW-3 order went, and all the aircraft were delivered by the end of 1923 with the uprated powerplant of one Wright-Hispano E (license-built Hispano-Suiza 8) engine. Once the aircraft had entered service, Fleet continued to improve the TW-3 , the most important change being the removal of the engine cowling to improve

432-688: The earliest members of the Wright Whirlwind engine family. The R-790 Whirlwind began as the Lawrance J-1 , a nine-cylinder air-cooled radial developed in 1921 by the Lawrance Aero Engine Company for the U.S. Navy. The Navy was very enthusiastic about air-cooled engines, which it considered better suited for naval use than liquid-cooled ones. Lawrance was a small company, though, and the Navy doubted it could produce enough engines for its needs. Despite urgings from

456-568: The engines were refined and their reputation for reliability grew, their use expanded to U.S. Army trainers and a wide range of U.S. civil aircraft, including the earliest versions of the Fokker Trimotor and Ford Trimotor airliners. The reliability of J-5 Whirlwind engines also led aviators to use them for a number of record-setting distance and endurance flights. The most famous of these is Charles Lindbergh 's solo transatlantic flight from New York City to Paris on May 20–21, 1927, in

480-452: The nickname 'Trusty' for their excellent ability to make a quick and effective recovery from a spin. Easy to fly, the Trusty made some students overconfident, and they received a shock when they advanced to faster airplanes with more difficult handling characteristics. The 'Trusty' was commonly flown without its cowlings in an effort to prevent overheating Whereas the TW-3 had supplemented

504-492: The occupants' forward and downward fields of vision. Visibility was still poor, so Fleet secured US Army permission to rebuild one TW-3 with a new, slimmer fuselage, providing tandem rather than side-by-side seating. This revised aircraft was generally known as the "Camel" due to the hump between its two cockpits. The "Camel" may be regarded as the prototype of the Consolidated response to the USAAS's 1924 requirement for

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528-647: The structure proved sturdy and dependable. It was offered to the USAAS as a replacement for the Curtiss JN-4D trainer, with a choice of Le Rhone or Clerget rotary piston engines. In 1922, the Army ordered three TA-3 (Trainer, Air-cooled, Type 3) machines for evaluation with the Le Rhone engine and dual controls. Evaluation showed that the type had the makings of a good trainer, but was somewhat lacking in power, so in 1923 Dayton-Wright modified one TA-3 with

552-527: The visible changes was the much wider separation between the valves, for better cooling airflow, and completely enclosed, instead of exposed pushrods and rocker arms . The U.S. government later designated the J-5 Whirlwind as the R-790, but it did not apply this designation to the older engines. All these engines had a bore of 4.5 in (11.4 cm), a stroke of 5.5 in (14.0 cm), and

576-461: Was delivered in 1929. The NY series was being phased out in the mid-1930s, with 15 in service in 1937, and one in service in 1939. Data from The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft Editors: Paul Eden & Soph Moeng, 2002, ISBN   0-7607-3432-1 ), page 478. General characteristics Performance Armament None Related lists Consolidated PT-1 The Consolidated PT-1 Trusty (company designation Model 1 )

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