The North American Aviation NA-16 was the first trainer aircraft built by North American Aviation, and was the beginning of a line of closely related North American trainer aircraft that would eventually number more than 17,000 examples, notably the T-6 Texan family.

Design and development

On 10 December 1934, James Howard "Dutch" Kindelberger, John L. "Lee" Atwood, and H.R. Raynor sketched out the specifications for the NA-16. A key characteristic for the advanced trainer was a closed canopy. The NA-16 is a family of related single-engine, low-wing monoplanes with tandem seating. Variants could have an open cockpit (the prototype and the NA-22) or be under a glass greenhouse that covered both cockpits.Hagedorn 1997, pp. 20–21. On some variants, the rear of the canopy could be opened for a gunner to fire to the rear. A variety of air-cooled radial engines, including the

Wright Whirlwind The Wright Whirlwind was a family of air-cooled radial aircraft engines built by Wright Aeronautical (originally an independent company, later a division of Curtiss-Wright). The family began with nine-cylinder engines, and later expanded to inc ...

Pratt & Whitney Wasp The Pratt & Whitney Wasp was the civilian name of a family of air-cooled radial piston engines developed in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.Gunston 1989, p.114. The Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company (P&W) was founded in 1925 by Frederick B. Rentsch ...

and

Pratt & Whitney Wasp Junior The Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior is a series of nine-cylinder, air-cooled, radial aircraft engines built by the Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company from the 1930s to the 1950s. These engines have a displacement of ; initial versions produced , ...

of varying horsepowers, could be installed depending on customer preferences. The fuselage was built up from steel tubes and normally fabric covered; however, later versions were provided with aluminum monocoque structures. During the development of the design, a six-inch stretch was made by moving the rudder post aft. Many versions had a fixed landing gear, but later versions could have retractable gear, mounted in a widened wing center section (which could have either integral fuel tanks or not). Most had a straight trailing edge on the outer wing while again, some had the wing trailing edge swept forward slightly in an attempt to fix a problem with stalls and spins. Several different rudders were used, with early examples having a round outline, intermediate examples having a square bottom on the rudder (Harvard I) and late examples using the triangular rudder of the AT-6 series, due to a loss of control at high angles of attack with the early types. Horizontal and vertical tails were initially covered in corrugated aluminum, but later examples were smooth-skinned, and the horizontal stabilizer was increased in chord near its tips on later versions. The NA-16 flew for the first time on 1 April 1935, by Eddie Allen. An enclosed cockpit version of the NA-16 was submitted to the United States Army Air Corps for performance tests as a basic trainer on 27 May 1935.Hagedorn 1997, p. 8. The Army accepted the trainer for production but with some detail changes, including a larger engine and faired landing gear modifications. The modified NA-16 was redesignated by North American as the NA-18, with production examples entering Air Corps service as the

North American BT-9 The North American BT-9 was the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) designation for a low-wing single engine monoplane primary trainer aircraft that served before and during World War II. It was a contemporary of the Boeing-Stearman PT-13 ...

(NA-19). The U.S. Army Air Corps ordered 42 BT-9s, equipped with the

Wright R-975 Whirlwind The Wright R-975 Whirlwind was a series of nine-cylinder air-cooled radial aircraft engines built by the Wright Aeronautical division of Curtiss-Wright. These engines had a displacement of about and power ratings of . They were the largest membe ...

engine, and 40 BT-9As, which could be armed with .30 cal. Browning M-1 machine guns. In 1936, an order was placed for 117 BT-9Bs, without armament. A total of 67 BT-9Cs (NA-29) were built, using the same R-975-7 engine. Similar aircraft continued to be sold outside the U.S. under the NA-16 designation. By the time of the U.S. entry into

WWII World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the NAF had built 1631 N-16 series aircraft. Of that total, 1043 were for foreign countries, while the remainder were for the U.S. Army Air Corps and Navy.

Foreign developments

;Australia The

Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation The Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) was an Australian aircraft manufacturer. The CAC was established in 1936, to provide Australia with the capability to produce military aircraft and engines. History In 1935 the Chief General Manager ...

produced 755 units of a modified version of the NA-16-2K (NA-33) known there as the

Wirraway The CAC Wirraway (an Aboriginal word meaning "challenge") was a training and general purpose military aircraft manufactured in Australia by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) between 1939 and 1946. It was an Australian development of ...

between 1939 and 1946. The units built included 40 CA-1s (Wirraway I), 60 CA-3s, 32 CA-5s, 100 CA-7s, 200 CA-8s, 188 CA-9s, and 135 CA-16s. The CA-16s were called the Wirraway IIIs, while previous models were called Wirraway IIs. ;Argentina Experience with the NA-16-4P and deteriorating political relations with the US led to the local development of the I.Ae. D.L. 21, which shared the NA-16 fuselage structure; however it proved too difficult to produce. As a result of this, an entirely new design (the I.Ae. D.L. 22) was built instead; it had similar configuration, but was structurally different and optimized to available materials.von Rauch, Georg and David L. Veres. "Argentina's Wooden Warriors". ''Air Classics'' (Challenge Publications), Volume 19, March 1983, pp. 14–21. ;Japan The NA-16-4RW and NA-16-4R inspired the development of the Kyushu K10W when the Imperial Japanese Navy instructed Kyushu to develop something similar.Starkings, Peter
"From American Acorn to Japanese Oak".
''Arawasi'' (Asahi Process, Tokyo), Issue 7, 2007, pp. 26–31. Retrieved: 8 September 2011. The resulting aircraft owed little to the NA-16, however Allied Intelligence saw so few examples that the error was not corrected and some drawings show a modified NA-16.

Variants

Listing includes aircraft built specifically under NA-16 designation for export, and similar aircraft built for use by the United States armed forces. ;NA-16 :One for United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) (trials) developed into NA-18 and BT-9 series. :powered by

When the North American NA-16 was first conceived, five different roles were intended for the design, designated NA-16-1 thru NA-16-5: ;NA-16-1:General purpose two-seat aircraft - which became the Harvard I ;NA-16-2:Two-seat fighter - produced under licence in Australia as the

CAC Wirraway The CAC Wirraway (an Aboriginal word meaning "challenge") was a training and general purpose military aircraft manufactured in Australia by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) between 1939 and 1946. It was an Australian development of ...

.Smith 2000, p. 96. ;NA-16-3:Two-seat light attack bomber. The first aircraft in this category was the retractable gear NA-26 which evolved into the NA-36 (BC-1). The fabric-covered fuselage was replaced by an all-metal monocoque to create the NA-44, which provided the basis for a line of light attack bombers whose improvements would result in the AT-6. ;NA-16-4:Advanced trainer - became the BT-9 for the USAAC and which provided the bulk of early production. The improvement of the BT-9 with a longer metal skinned fuselage as on the NA-44 would create the NA-64 (Yale) and improved wings would result in the BT-14. ;NA-16-5:Single-seat fighter - although this designation was never used, it became the NA-50 for Peru, and later the NA-68, which saw limited USAAF service as the P-64. ;BT-9 (NA-19) :42 built for USAAC - Minor changes from NA-18, new canopy :powered by Wright R-975 Whirlwind ;BT-9A (NA-19A) :40 built for USAAC - Armed BT-9 with one cowl gun, one rear flexible gun and modified canopy. :powered by Wright R-975 Whirlwind ;NA-16-2H (NA-20) :One built for trials, sold to Honduras (FAH) :powered by Wright R-975 Whirlwind ;NA-22 :One built for USAAC trials but rejected as severely underpowered. Open cockpits as per early NA-16 and

Townend ring A Townend ring is a narrow- chord cowling ring fitted around the cylinders of an aircraft radial engine to reduce drag and improve cooling. Development The Townend ring was the invention of Dr. Hubert Townend of the British National Physica ...

on engine. :powered by Wright R-760 Whirlwind ;BT-9B (NA-23) :117 built for USAAC - Unarmed with fixed rear on canopy. :powered by Wright R-975 Whirlwind ;BT-9D (NA-23) :One modified BT-9B for USAAC - BT-14 prototype with new outer wings, Harvard type canopy, lengthened fabric covered fuselage, triangular rudder and detail alterations. :powered by Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior ;NA-16-3 ''Basic Combat demonstrator'' (NA-26) :One armed demonstrator and the first variant with retractable undercarriage, eventually sold to

RCAF The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environme ...

who modified it with Yale and Harvard parts. :powered by

Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp The Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp is an aircraft engine of the reciprocating type that was widely used in American aircraft from the 1920s onward. It was the Pratt & Whitney aircraft company's first engine, and the first of the famed Wasp series ...

;NA-16-2H (NA-27) :One armed demonstrator sold to Royal Netherlands Air Force - not the same as the previous NA-16-2H. :powered by Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp ;NJ-1 (NA-28) :40 built to US Navy specifications, up engined BT-9B as advanced trainer with fixed gear. :powered by Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp ;BT-9C (NA-29) :66 built for USAAC - BT-9A with minor changes. :powered by Wright R-975 Whirlwind ;Y1BT-10 (NA-29) :One built for USAAC - BT-9 with larger engine, similar to USN NJ-1 but armed and detail differences in engine installation. :powered by Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp ;BT-10 (NA-30) :Cancelled production version of Y1BT-10 for USAAC :powered by Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp ;NA-16-4M (NA-31) :138 built for Sweden's

Flygvapnet The Swedish Air Force ( sv, Svenska flygvapnet or just ) is the air force branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. History The Swedish Air Force was created on 1 July, 1926 when the aircraft units of the Army and Navy were merged. Because of the es ...

as Sk 14/Sk 14A. Sk 14N trialled nosewheel for SAAB 21. :powered by Wright R-975 Whirlwind (Sk 14) or Piaggio P VII C (Sk 14A) ;NA-16-1A (NA-32) :One built for

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

but rejected in favour of NA-16-2K, fixed landing gear, similar to Y1BT-10. :powered by Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp ;NA-16-2K (NA-33) :756 for Royal Australian Air Force in Australia with local improvements as

:powered by Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp ;NA-16-4P (NA-34) :29 built for Argentina (Army Aviation) - 1st major export order (previous orders involved licence production). :powered by Wright R-975 Whirlwind ;NA-16-4R (NA-37) :One built for Imperial Japanese Navy as a technology demonstrator KXA-1 with fixed u/c and three-blade prop. :powered by Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior ;NA-16-4 (NA-41) :35 built for China (RoCAF) - Fixed gear, fabric covered fuselage :powered by Wright R-975 Whirlwind ;NA-16-2A (NA-42) :Two built for Honduras (FAH) :powered by Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp ;NA-16-1G (NA-43) :Intended for Brazil (Army) but order cancelled. Was to have been similar to BT-9C :powered by Wright R-975 Whirlwind ;NA-44 :Armed company demonstrator sold to Canada. Designation reused for AT-6s sold to Brazil (NA-72) and Chile (NA-74). :powered by Wright R-1820 Cyclone. ;NA-16-1GV (NA-45) :Three built for Venezuela (FAV) similar to USAAC NA-36 BC-1 but with round rudder and bomb racks under wing center section. :powered by Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp ;NA-16-4 (NA-46) :12 built for

Brazilian Navy ) , colors= Blue and white , colors_label= Colors , march= " Cisne Branco" ( en, "White Swan") (same name as training ship '' Cisne Branco'' , mascot= , equipment= 1 multipurpose aircraft carrier7 submarines6 frigates2 corvettes4 amphibious warf ...

:powered by Wright R-975 Whirlwind ;NA-16-4RW (NA-47) :One built for Imperial Japanese Navy as a technology demonstrator KXA-2 similar to NA-16-4R but smaller engine. :powered by Wright R-975 Whirlwind ;NA-16-3C (NA-48) :15 built for China (RoCAF) - Retractable undercarriage, fabric covered fuselage :powered by Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp ;NA-16-1E (NA-49/NA-61) :430 for Royal Air Force and

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...

as the Harvard I with new canopy and square rudder. Also used by South Africa and Southern Rhodesia. :powered by Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp ;NA-16-4 (NA-56) :50 built for China (RoCAF) - Entirely new design with longer metal fuselage, triangular rudder and later T-6 style wing. Basically a BT-14 with the AT-6s R-1340 engine and canopy. :powered by Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp ;NA-57 :230 improved NA-23s for France as NAA 57-P-2, most captured and used by Germany, some retained by Vichy France. :powered by Wright R-975 Whirlwind ;NA-16-3 (NA-71) :Three built for Venezuela (FAV) :powered by Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp ;I.Ae. D.L. 21 :An

Argentinian Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or ( feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, ...

version incorporating the NA-16-1 fuselage with locally designed wings. Rejected in favour of the I.Ae. 22 DL, an original design from the ''

Fabrica Militar de Aviones Fabrica means a device in Latin, and derivative words mean "factory" in French (''fabrique''), Italian (''fabbrica''), Portuguese (''fábrica''), Romanian (''fabrica'') and Spanish (''fábrica'') among other Romance languages. It may also refer to ...

'' (FMA).

Operators

; * Army Aviation ServiceSome sources list the NA-16 as having been used by the Argentine Air Force however it was with its predecessor, the ''Army Aviation Service'' which was dissolved in 1945 when the Air Force was created. ; * Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) (samples for licence production) ; * Brazilian Navy (Marinha do Brasil) ; * Republic of China Air Force (RoCAF) ; * French Air Force (Armée de l'Air) * French Naval Aviation (Aéronavale) * Vichy French Air Force ; * Luftwaffe ; * Honduran Air Force (Fuerza Aérea Hondureña/FAH) ; * Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service(IJNAS) (2 examples for evaluation only) ; * Royal Netherlands Air Force (Koninklijke Luchtmacht/KLu) ; * South African Air Force (SAAF) ; * Southern Rhodesian Air Force (SRAF) ; * Swedish Air Force (Flygvapnet) ; * Royal Air Force (RAF) ; * United States Army Air Corps (USAAC)/ United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) * United States Navy (USN) ; * Venezuelan Air Force (Fuerza Aérea Venezolana/FAV)

Surviving aircraft

* The only intact surviving example of an American built NA-16 is the NA-16-2A/NA-20 "FAH-21" displayed at the

Honduran Aviation Museum The Honduran Aviation Museum, (''Museo del Aire de Honduras''), is a museum foundation in Honduras, opened in September 2002 for the purpose of storing, preserving, restoring and exhibiting items related to Honduran aviation. History The museu ...

at Toncontín. * A Swedish NA-16-4M (locally designated as Sk 14) was built from an ex-RAAF

(s/n A20-223) with additional parts from an ex-RCAF

North American NA-64 Yale The North American NA-64 (NA-64 P-2 or NAA-64 P-2 in French service, Yale in Canadian service) is a low-wing single piston engine monoplane advanced trainer aircraft that was built for the French Air Force and French Navy, served with the Royal C ...

and is on display at the Swedish Air Force Museum. * The

(originally NA-16-2K) was first modified to British standards and equipment, then later models diverged further from the NA-16 in minor details such as the fitting of dive brakes etc. The sole surviving CA-1 Wirraway is A20-10, the 8th production Wirraway, effectively a licence built NA-16-2K, and held at the

Australian National Aviation Museum The Moorabbin Air Museum is an aviation museum at Moorabbin Airport in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was founded in 1962 as the Australian Aircraft Restoration Group, in an attempt to maintain a World War II-era Bristol Beaufighter aircr ...

. Ten Wirraways are on the Australian civil aircraft register."Search aircraft model: CA-1/CA-3/CA-7/CA-8/CA-16."
''CASA''. Retrieved: 17 September 2013. Further examples (in Australia unless noted) are at

Temora Aviation Museum The Temora Aviation Museum is an Australian aviation museum located in Temora, New South Wales. The Museum was established in late 1999, based on the collection of warbird aircraft owned by David Lowy. Lowy remains the President and Founder of th ...

, Aviation Heritage Museum, Museum of Victoria, Queensland Air Museum,

RAAF Museum RAAF Museum is the official museum of the Royal Australian Air Force, the second oldest air force in the world, located at RAAF Williams Point Cook, Victoria, Australia which is the oldest continuously operating Military Air Base in the world. ...

(Stored) and the

Fantasy of Flight Fantasy of Flight is an aviation museum in Polk City, Florida. It opened in November 1995, to house Kermit Weeks' collection of aircraft that, until Hurricane Andrew damaged many in 1992, were housed at the Weeks Air Museum in Tamiami, Florid ...

(Florida - stored).

Specifications (NA-16)

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* * Fletcher, David C. and Doug MacPhail. ''Harvard! the North American Trainers in Canada''. San Josef, British Columbia, Canada: DCF Flying Books, 1990. . * Hagedorn, Dan. ''North American NA-16/AT-6/SNJ (WarbirdTech Volume 11)''. North Branch, Minnesota: Speciality Press, 1997. . * MacPhail, Doug and Mikael Östberg. ''Triple Crown BT-9: The ASJA/Saab Sk 14, A Pictorial Essay'' (in English/Swedish). San Josef, British Columbia, Canada: DCF Flying Books, 2003. * Smith, Peter Charles. ''North American T-6: SNJ, Harvard and Wirraway''. Ramsbury, Marlborough, Wiltshire, UK: The Crowood Press Ltd., 2000. . * Starkings, Peter. ''From American Acorn to Japanese Oak - The tale of an unsung Japanese training aircraft with roots extending across the Pacific Ocean''. Arawasi International, Asahi Process, September–December 2007, Issue 7. * von Rauch, Georg and David L. Veres. ''Argentina's Wooden Warriors''. Air Classics, Challenge Publications, March 1983, Volume 19 Issue 3, pp. 14–21.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:North American Na-16 1930s United States military trainer aircraft NA-16 Single-engined tractor aircraft Low-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1935