Aircraft
Specification
Crew: two, student and instructor- Length: 24 ft 9 in (7.54 m)
- Wingspan: 32 ft. 2 in. (9.81 m)
- Height: 9 ft 8 in (3 m)
- Wing area: 298 sq. ft (27.7 m²)
- Empty weight: 1,931 lb (878 kg)
- Max. take-off weight: 2,635 lb (1,200 kg)
- Powerplant: 1× Continental R-670-5, 7 cylinder radial, 220 hp
- Maximum speed: 135 mph (117 knots, 217 km/h)
- Cruise speed: 96 mph (83 knots, 155 km/h)
- Service ceiling: 13,200 ft (4,024 m)
- Climb to 10,000 ft (3,330 m): 17.3 min
Boeing Stearman Model 75 (PT17)
Military History
The Smithsonian NASM Record Card for Stearman N2S-3 Bureau Number (BuNo) 4280 shows factory Acceptance and Delivery on May 30th 1941, serving at NAS Corpus Christi TX, NRAB Oakland CA, NAPT Livermore CA, NAPT Bunker Hill IN, NAPT and VNI DB Cabaniss Field TX before being sold for surplus in June 1946.
Pensacola Naval Aviation Museum advise Corpus Christi had four Training Squadrons, VN-11A, B, C & D with corresponding fuselage numbers beginning 1, 2, 3 & 4. VN-11B operated N3Ns, so that narrows our aircraft down to VN-11A, C or D.
The photo opposite from "Carrier Air War in Original WWII Color" taken in 1942 at Corpus Christi TX is an N2S-2 assigned to VN-11D based at Cabaniss Field TX.
Some N2S aircraft were designated as instrument trainers and carried the red stripes from Dec 1940 to May 1942. At that point the stripes were changed to green so as not to be confused with Japanese national markings.