Consolidated PT-3 explained

The Consolidated Model 2 was a training airplane used by the United States Army Air Corps, under the designation PT-3 and the United States Navy under the designation NY-1.

Development

Seeing the success of the Navy's NY-1 modification of a PT-1 airframe, the USAAC came to the conclusion that a radial engine was indeed ideal for a trainer. It was reliable and offered a good power-to-weight ratio. Therefore, one PT-1 airframe was completed as XPT-2 with a 220 hp (164 kW) Wright J-5 Whirlwind radial engine.^[1]

The XPT-3 was almost identical to the XPT-2 except for the tail, revised wing panels and different shape. 130 production PT-3 aircraft were ordered in September 1927,^[1] with one being completed as the XO-17. These were followed by 120 PT-3A aircraft with minor changes. The XPT-3 became the XPT-5 when fitted with the Curtiss Challenger R-600 two-row six-cylinder radial engine, but was soon converted to PT-3 standard.^[2]

The PT-3 aircraft were superseded by the Boeing PT-13 Stearman starting in 1937, but a number were still operational with the Spartan Flying School in Tulsa Oklahoma into the middle of World War II.^[1]

Variants

XPT-2: one PT-1 airframe with a 220hp Wright J-5 (R-790) radial engine, wingspan 34 ft 7 in (10.5 m), length 28 ft 4 in (8.6 m), gross weight 2,427 lb (1100 kg)^[3]

XPT-3: one PT-1 airframe with revised wing panels (Clark "Y" wings) and a different vertical tail, wingspan 34 ft 6 in (10.5 m), length 28 ft 3 in (8.6 m), gross weight 2,439 lb (1106 kg)^[3]

PT-3: 130 ordered, one completed as the XO-17 prototype, gross weight 2,481 lb (1125 kg)^[3]

PT-3A: 120 ordered with minor updates, Wright J-5, gross weight 2,432 lb (1103 kg)^[3]

XPT-4: unbuilt, was to be a development PT-3 with the experimental Fairchild-Caminez 447C engine^[3]

XPT-5: the airframe of the XPT-3 was temporarily fitted with the Curtiss Challenger R-600-1 two-row six-cylinder radial engine in 1929, later converted to PT-3 standard^[3]

Operators

• Cuban Air Force, ten PT-3s.

• Argentine Air Force, one PT-3.

• Brazilian Naval Aviation, one PT-3, serial number 434.

• Peruvian Air Force, one PT-3.

• United States Army Air Corps
• United States Navy
• United States Marine Corps

Surviving aircraft

• The last Consolidated PT-3 was amongst the aircraft lost in the San Diego Air & Space Museum 1978 fire.^[4]
• An airworthy PT-3 replica belongs to the EAA Aviation Museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. It incorporates parts of a PT-1 that once flew with the 154th Observation Squadron of the Arkansas National Guard, was later owned by the University of Arkansas College of Engineering and was rebuilt as a PT-3 reproduction with a radial J-5 Engine.^[5]

See also

• Consolidated PT-1 "Trusty"
• Consolidated O-17
• Consolidated PT-11

References

• Book: Hagedorn, Daniel P. . Central American and Caribbean Air Forces . 1993 . Tonbridge, Kent, UK . Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd . 0-85130-210-6.

Notes and References

1. "The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft" cover Editors: Paul Eden & Soph Moeng, (Amber Books Ltd. Bradley's Close, 74-77 White Lion Street, London, NI 9PF, 2002,), 1152 pp.
2. "United States Military Aircraft Since 1909" by F. G. Swanborough & Peter M. Bowers (Putnam New York,) 1964, 596 pp.
3. "U.S. Army Aircraft 1908-1946" by James C. Fahey, 1946, 64pp.
4. Web site: Fire, Fuel, and Second Chances… The Origins of the Hoover Nozzle and Ring near Brown Field, San Diego, California, May 25, 1978. Check-Six.com. 5 October 2021.
5. Web site: Consolidated PT-1/PT-3 Husky - N31PT. EAA. EAA. 5 October 2021.