Engineering:Consolidated PT-3

PT-3
Consolidated PT-3
Role	Trainer
Manufacturer	Consolidated Aircraft Company
Introduction	1927
Primary user	United States Army Air Corps
Produced	September 1927
Number built	250
Variants	Consolidated NY, Consolidated O-17

PT-3 replica

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.

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, 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.

The PT-3 aircraft were superseded by the Boeing PT-13 Stearman starting in 1937, but a number were still operational with the Spartan Flying School in Tulsa Oklahoma into the middle of World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

Variants

XPT-2

one PT-1 airframe with a 220 hp (160 kW) 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)

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)

PT-3

130 ordered, one completed as the XO-17 prototype, gross weight 2,481 lb (1125 kg)

PT-3A

120 ordered with minor updates, Wright J-5, gross weight 2,432 lb (1103 kg)

XPT-4

unbuilt, was to be a development PT-3 with the experimental Fairchild-Caminez 447C engine

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

Operators

Cuba

• Cuban Air Force , ten PT-3s.

Argentina

• Argentine Air Force , one PT-3.

Brazil

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

Peru

• Peruvian Air Force , one PT-3.

Mexico

• a small number may have been sold to Mexico

United States

• 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.
• 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.

Specifications (PT-3)

Data from "United States Military Aircraft Since 1908" by Gordon Swanborough & Peter M. Bowers (Putnam Newy York, ISBN:0-370-00094-3) 1977, 675 pp.

General characteristics

• Crew: two
• Length: 28 ft 1 in (8.56 m)
• Wingspan: 34 ft 6 in (10.52 m)
• Height: 10 ft 3 in (3.12 m)
• Wing area: 300 sq ft (27.87 m²)
• Empty weight: 1,785 lb (810 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 2,481 lb (1,125 kg)
• Powerplant: 1 × Wright R-790-AB radial, 220 hp (164 kW)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 102 mph (164 km/h, 89 kn)
• Cruise speed: 81 mph (130 km/h, 70 kn)
• Range: 300 mi (483 km, 260 nmi)
• Service ceiling: 14,000 ft (4,267 m)
• Rate of climb: 658 ft/min (3.34 m/s)

See also

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

References

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