From: flyn3nvt@adelphia.net
Date: Mon Jan 02 2006 - 13:06:08 PST
--" The
> Navy ended its construction and employment of the rigid airships in the
> 1930s after two, the Akron and the Macon, crashed at sea. "
>
Did you know that they took all the remaining extruded aluminum and built airplanes???? Was called the Naval Aircraft Factory, located at the Philidelphia Naval Yard. They built several types but only one stands out. The N3N-3, a basic trainer biplane often confused as a Boeing Stearman. Could be set up on land or as a sea-plane for training pilots in water operations. The Navy bought the tooling and plans for the Wright 760-8 engine and produced their own engines in the Navy Yard. This being the only aircraft MFG ever to do this!!! Nicknamed the "Yellow Peril" by cadets for its nasty spin characteristics. The N3N built in 1940 survived the war to have most of the 816 built to be surplused and sold to fly as crop dusters because of their "toughness". So tough that the Navy kept 20 N3N's in the inventory up until 1959 making this the last Bi-plane in US service. Just under 100 of these airplanes still exist, more are taking to the skies every Yr. Ours fly's in her actual markings as she wore in her last days of service with the navy in 1959.
>
> 1942 Navy opens a blimp base in New Jersey
>
> On this day, the Navy Airship Patrol Group 1 and Air Ship Squadron 12 are
> established at Lakehurst, N.J. The U.S. Navy was the only military service
> in the world to use airships--also known as blimps--during the war.
> The U.S. Navy was actually behind the times in the use of blimps; it didn't
> get around to ordering its first until 1915, at which time even the U.S.
> Army was using them. By the close of World War I, the Navy had recognized
> their value and was using several blimps for patrolling coastlines for enemy
> submarines. They proved extremely effective; in fact, no convoy supported by
> blimp surveillance ever lost a ship.
> Between the wars, it was agreed that the Army would use nonrigid airships to
> patrol the coasts of the United States, while the Navy would use rigid
> airships (which were aluminum-hulled and kept their shape whether or not
> they were filled with gas) for long-range scouting and fleet support. The
> Navy ended its construction and employment of the rigid airships in the
> 1930s after two, the Akron and the Macon, crashed at sea. In 1937, the Army
> transferred all its remaining nonrigid blimps to the Navy.
> Meanwhile, in the civilian world, the Hindenburg, a commercial dirigible,
> burst into flames over Lakehurst on May 6, 1937. Thirty-six of the 97
> passengers aboard were killed. The explosion was caused by an electric
> discharge that ignited a hydrogen gas leak; the tragedy effectively ended
> the use of airships for commercial travel, but they were still used to great
> advantage in the U.S. military.
> At the outbreak of World War II, the Navy had 10 blimps in service; that
> number expanded to 167 by the end of the war. The only U.S. blimp lost was
> the K-74, which, on July 18, 1943, spotted a German U-boat. The blimp opened
> fire on the submarine and damaged it, but only one of its two depth charges
> released. The submarine fired back and sent the blimp into the sea, but the
> crew was rescued. The only German blimp involved in the war was a passenger
> craft, Graf Zeppelin, which was used for electronic surveillance just before
> the outbreak of the war.
>
> And as a note to this it is my understanding the only balloon training base
> during WW II was at Paris Tennessee, some of the original building are still
> standing and in use by an industry that supplies clay used in the
> manufacture of ceramic toilet fixtures.
>
>
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