Island 'Canary'

摘要

There is a small, but select group of pilots that refuses to accept the almost constant mis-identification of its pride-and-joy. Most of them - perhaps as many as 60 - are US-based, but unique to the UK is Dick Steele. Dick owns a Naval Aircraft Factory N3N and also the lovely Sandown aerodrome on the Isle of Wight. These stalwarts grimace at the almost inevitable introduction at a fly-in or airshow when they are greeted with a "that's a nicely turned-out Stearman". Quickly the enquirer will learn that the US Navy used two types of basic training biplane during World War Two, the prolific Boeing N2S 'Stearman' and the N3N, known as the 'Yellow Peril' or more frequently the 'Canary'. The latter name became almost universally accepted as semi-official. Operating out of the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, from 1917, the Naval Aircraft Factory was established to give the US Navy is own experimental and production facilities. Included in NAF's production repertoire was the airship Shenandoah, the T2N torpedo carrier, torpedo seaplanes and, finally the PBN Nomad, an extensive redesign of the Consolidated Catalina.