The General Aviation PJ was a flying boat produced in the United States in the 1930s as a search-and-rescue aircraft for the

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...

Design

Originally designated FLB (for "Flying Life Boat"), it was a conventional high-wing cantilever monoplane with a flying boat hull and outrigger pontoons mounted on the wings slightly outboard of mid-span. The twin pusher engines were carried in separate nacelles on pylons above the wings. The hull was a monocoque metal structure, and the wing was a wooden structure skinned with plywood. The basic design was based on that of the Fokker F.11, but substantially enlarged (Fokker's American operation was renamed General Aviation after purchase by General Motors in 1930). While not a true amphibian and able to land on dry land, the PJ was equipped with retractable undercarriage that functioned as its own, self-carrying beaching trolley. Five examples were operated by the US Coast Guard during the 1930s, named ''

Antares Antares is the brightest star in the constellation of Scorpius. It has the Bayer designation α Scorpii, which is Latinised to Alpha Scorpii. Often referred to as "the heart of the scorpion", Antares is flanked by σ Scorpii and τ ...

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Altair Altair is the brightest star in the constellation of Aquila and the twelfth-brightest star in the night sky. It has the Bayer designation Alpha Aquilae, which is Latinised from α Aquilae and abbreviated Alpha Aql ...

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Acrux Acrux is the brightest star in the southern constellation of Crux. It has the Bayer designation α Crucis, which is Latinised to Alpha Crucis and abbreviated Alpha Cru or α Cru. With a combined visual magnitude of +0.76, it is the 1 ...

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Arcturus , - bgcolor="#FFFAFA" , Note (category: variability): , , H and K emission vary. Arcturus is the brightest star in the northern constellation of Boötes. With an apparent visual magnitude of −0.05, it is the third-brightest of the ...

'' (hull numbers FLB-51 through FLB-55). In 1933, ''Antares'' underwent a major refit that included a redesign of her engine nacelles, converting these to tractor configuration.

Variants

* PJ-1 - original version with pusher engines (five built) * PJ-2 - version with tractor engines (one converted)

Specifications (PJ-1)

References

* General Aviation PJ-1

* Bowers, Peter M. ''United States Navy Aircraft since 1911''. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Naval Institute Press, 1990, p. 495. . * *

External links

"Flying Lifeboats."
''Popular Science'', December 1937, pp. 56–57, all photos show PJ-1 except for middle aircraft p. 57 an RD-2. {{USN patrol aircraft 1930s United States military rescue aircraft Flying boats Atlantic Aircraft aircraft High-wing aircraft Twin-engined pusher aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1933