The story
Most Navy aircraft came from private industry. The N3N came from the Navy itself: the government-owned Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia designed and built it, and even built its Wright Whirlwind engines under licence. It first flew in 1935, and about 1,000 were built as tandem two-seat primary trainers, on wheels or on floats, with a riveted aluminium frame under the fabric where most trainers of the day used welded steel tube. Students called it the Yellow Peril for the chrome-yellow paint and the narrow landing gear that ground-looped anyone who got lazy on touchdown. After the war the survivors were sold off, and many became crop dusters.
The Naval Academy kept a few N3N floatplanes for midshipmen's first flights long after every other service had gone all-monoplane. When they retired in 1961, they were the last biplanes in US military service. One of them, BuNo 3022, went straight into the Smithsonian's collection.
Quick answers
How do you identify a N3N Yellow Peril?
A big yellow open-cockpit biplane with a radial engine and two cockpits in tandem. From the ground it is easy to mistake for a Stearman, which wore the same yellow and the same nickname; the card's registry name is the reliable tell. Postwar crop-duster conversions may carry a hopper where the front cockpit was.
What does a N3N Yellow Peril sound like?
The loping, uneven clatter of a small Wright radial at idle, smoothing into a steady drone overhead.
How fast is the N3N Yellow Peril?
Top speed is 109 kts (126 mph, N3N-3).
How many passengers does the N3N Yellow Peril carry?
Up to 1. A typical layout is Instructor and student in tandem open cockpits.
How far can the N3N Yellow Peril fly?
Range is about 408 nmi (N3N-3).
How big is the N3N Yellow Peril?
It is 25 ft 6 in long and 34 ft 0 in across the wings.
When did the N3N Yellow Peril first fly?
Its first flight was in 1935.
How many N3N Yellow Perils have been built?
About 1,000 (179 N3N-1, 816 N3N-3, plus prototypes) built.
How rare is a N3N Yellow Peril in Bogey?
UNCOMMON. Not rare, but not every day either. Worth looking up for. Your first N3N Yellow Peril catch is worth 50 points.
