NA-64/NA-64 P-2/Yale I | |
---|---|
Restored North American NA.64 Yale at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton, Ontario | |
Role | Trainer |
Manufacturer | North American Aviation |
First flight | 12 February 1940[1] |
Introduction | 1940 |
Retired | 1 October 1946 (RCAF)[1][2] 1949 (Armee de l'air) |
Status | museum/warbird |
Primary users | Royal Canadian Air Force Armée de l'Air & Aeronavale Luftwaffe |
Produced | 1940 |
Number built | 230 |
Developed from | North American BT-14 |
Developed into | North American Harvard |
The North American NA-64 (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 Armée de l'Air and Aeronavale and served with the Royal Canadian Air Force and Luftwaffe during World War II.
Design and development[]
Ordered as a follow on to the NA-57 as a two seat advanced trainer, the NA-64 P-2/NAA-64 P-2 represented a major structural improvement, with a longer all metal fuselage replacing the fabric covered fuselage of the NA-57. As well as metal skin replacing the fabric on the fuselage, the fin was changed from having a corrugated skin to being a smooth stressed skin structure and was moved aft slightly, lengthening the rear fuselage while the engine was moved forward to maintain the center of gravity. The rudder was also changed from the rounded shape used previously to one with a roughly triangle shape with the broadest part being at the bottom to improve handling at high angles of attack. In one respect however, it was a step backwards from its immediate predecessor, the BT-14, and for which it is often confused, in that the earlier straight wings were used with the result that in RCAF service, when compared to the later and more powerful Harvard II it was flown alongside, it had different handling characteristics and a lower performance.[3]
Operational history[]
France[]
The NA-64 P-2 was built for the French Armée de l'Air and Aéronavale in 1939–1940, which ordered 200 and 30 respectively. Of these, 111 had been delivered before France surrendered to the Germans after the Battle of France.[2] In France, the NA-64, like the NA-57 before it, was known as the North,[4] and was designated as NA-64 P-2 (North American, model 64, Perfectionnement[4] (ie for perfecting flying skills/advanced trainer), 2 seater) but were sometimes attached to reconnaissance units. A small number were used by the Vichy French Air Force alongside NA-57s. Two examples in North Africa survived into the post-war years, having been operated alongside NA-57s, the last only being retired in 1949.
Canada[]
The remaining 119 undelivered aircraft were bought up by the British Purchasing Commission and transferred to the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) for the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan between August and September 1940,[2] and all were operational by November[5] The type was named the Yale Mk.I[note 1] following British naming practice of naming trainers after education institutions and US-supplied aircraft after American locations, in this case, Yale University, and were used initially as intermediate pilot trainers taking pilots from the de Havilland Tiger Moth and Fleet Finch to the much faster and more complex North American Harvard,[4] until this category was dispensed with as being unnecessary. They were then relegated for use as airborne wireless radio trainers, along with the contemporary Fleet Fort intermediate trainer in 1943.[6][7] Prior to service entry, the throttle and engine mixture controls were modified from the system used by the French whereby the throttle was pulled back to increase power, and the mixture control pulled back to lean out the mixture, to the system used on the Harvard.[5] The Yale appeared in the movie Captains of the Clouds. The RCAF sold all surviving examples off as scrap in 1946 but over 30 survive today as a result of a large number of them being bought surplus by a single farmer, with about 15 currently in airworthy condition.
Germany[]
The NAA-64s captured from the French were used by the German Luftwaffe for all types of flight training, from basic flying to advanced fighter tactics. Dive bomber schools and target tug units and even combat squadrons all used the NAA-64, as they were designated by the Luftwaffe, from the tail markings of the French examples. At least one was used by the Zirkus Rosarius to familiarize German aircrew with the handling of American aircraft before they evaluated captured aircraft.[5]
Operators[]
- Royal Canadian Air Force
- No.1 Service Flying Training School (SFTS) Borden[8]
- No.2 Service Flying Training School (SFTS) Uplands[8]
- No.6 Service Flying Training School (SFTS) Dunnville[6]
- No.14 Service Flying Training School (SFTS) Aylmer[9]
- No.1 Training Command (TC) Toronto, ON[10]
- No.3 Training Command (TC) Montreal[11]
- No.4 Training Command (TC) Regina[9]
- No.1 Flying Instructor School (FIS) Trenton[9]
- No.1 Wireless School (WS) Winnipeg, MB[7]
- No.2 Wireless School (WS) Calgary, AB[7]
- No.3 Wireless School (WS) Montreal, QC[7][12]
- No.4 Wireless School (WS) Guelph[7]
- No.12 (Communications) Squadron[6]
- No.118 (F) Squadron[11]
- Armée de l'Air (French Air Force)
- Escadrille d'Outre Mer 82 Niger (post-WWII)[13]
- Aéronavale (French Naval Aviation)
- Section Liaison Port Lyautey 51 S squadron (Khouribga)
- Armée de l'Air de Vichy (Vichy French Air Force)
- Groupe de Chasse II/9 (fighter-trainer) - Aulnat
- Forces Aériennes Françaises Libres (Free French Air Force)
- Luftwaffe captured 93 aircraft and assigned 96 registrations,[14] and they published their own pilots manual for it
- Fliegerzielgeschwader (Fl.Z.G.) 2 target towing wing[15][16]
- Flugzeugführerschule A/B 9 pilot school[15][17][18]
- Flugzeugführerschule A/B 16 pilot school[18]
- Flugzeugführerschule A/B 42 pilot school[15]
- Flugzeugführerschule A/B 43 pilot school[15][18]
- Flugzeugführerschule A/B 71 pilot school[18]
- Flugzeugführerschule A/B 82 pilot school[15]
- Flugzeugführerschule A/B 110 pilot school[15][17][18]
- Flugzeugführerschule A/B 111 pilot school[15]
- Flugzeugführerschule A/B 116 Göppingen pilot school[5][15][17][19][20]
- Flugzeugführerschule A/B 117 pilot school[15][18]
- Jagdfliegerschule (JFS) 2 Neustadt Weinstraße/Speyerdorf advanced fighter pilot school[15]
- Jagdfliegerschule 6 advanced fighter pilot training school[15]
- Jagdfliegervorschule (JFVS) 2 Lachen-Speyerdorf preliminary fighter pilot school[15][19]
- Jagdgeschwader (JG) 103 fighter squadron[15][18]
- Jagdgeschwader (JG) 106 fighter squadron[15]
- Luftdienst-Kommando 7 air service command[15]
- Luftkriegschule (LKS) 1 air war school[21]
- Luftkriegschule 5 air war school[15]
- Nahaufklärungsgeschwader (NAG) 102 short-range reconnaissance wing[15]
- Stukaschule (StS) 1 Wertheim dive bomber school[15]
- Stukavorschule/Sturzkampffliegervorschule (StVS) 1 Bad Aibling preliminary dive bomber school[15][16][17][18][19][20][22]
- Stukavorschule 2 preliminary dive bomber school[15]
- Zerstörerschule (ZS) 1 Neubiberg heavy fighter school[18]
- Zieldarstellungsstaffel (ZD-Stf) 102 target towing squadron[15][17]
- Zirkus Rosarius used to familiarize aircrew with U.S. aircraft.[5]
- Royal Navy
- 31 SFTS Kingston, ON (Canada) - 8 loaned from RCAF from March to April 1941 in exchange for 8 Fairey Battle trainers.[23][24]
Survivors/aircraft on display[]
There are many surviving NA-64 Yales today because of Ernie Simmons, a farmer from near Tillsonburg, Ontario. Simmons bought 39 Yales in 1946,[25] along with a Fairey Swordfish and a Westland Lysanders[26] and kept them on his farm until he died in 1970.[27][28] Most were auctioned the same year, and many have been restored by museums and warbird enthusiasts. All surviving Yales are from the Simmons collection. Two examples have been subsequently lost, a major hangar fire took the Musée de l'air et de l'espace's NA-64 3415/64-2224, and 3454/64-2165 was destroyed as the result of a flying accident. Several Yales have been painted or partially modified as BT-14s Additionally, over a dozen are privately owned in Canada, the US, and Europe or are not accessible, and additional airframes may be held by some museums as a source of spares.[citation needed]
RCAF Serial |
NAA Serial |
Museum/organization | Location | Status | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
3349 | 64-2171 | Imperial War Museum Duxford | Duxford, England | airworthy | [29] |
3350 | 64-2206 | Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum | Hamilton, Ontario | airworthy | [30] |
3361 | 64-2183 | Milestones of Flight Museum | Lancaster, California | as BT-14 | [31] |
3367 | 64-2175 | Sherwood Park, Alberta | Sherwood Park, Alberta | static | [32] |
3381 | 64-2194 | Commemorative Air Force | Midland, Texas | as BT-14 | |
3383 | 64-3037 | Legend Of Aces Aviation | Brighton, Michigan | restoration | |
3390 | 64-3033 | Bomber Command Museum of Canada | Nanton, Alberta | restoration | [32] |
3396 | 64-2161 | Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum | Brandon, Manitoba | restoration | |
3397 | 64-2150 | Pima Air & Space Museum | Tucson, Arizona | static | [33] |
3399 | 64-2160 | Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association | Tillsonburg, Ontario | airworthy | [34] |
3400 | 64-2149 | Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum | Hamilton, Ontario | airworthy | [35] |
3404 | 64-2157 | Bomber Command Museum of Canada | Nanton, Alberta | restoration | [36] |
3406 | 64-2144 | Historic Aircraft Restoration Museum | Maryland Heights, Missouri | airworthy | |
3409 | 64-2158 | Canadian Aviation Museum | Windsor, Ontario | restoration | |
3411 | 64-2167 | Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum | Hamilton, Ontario | static | [37] |
3416 | 64-2169 | Guelph Airpark | Guelph, Ontario | static | [38] |
3417 | 64-2168 | National Museum of the United States Air Force | Dayton, Ohio | as BT-14 | [39] |
3430 | 64-2223 | Western Canada Aviation Museum | Winnipeg, Manitoba | static | [40] |
3450 | 64-2214 | Commemorative Air Force | Midland, Texas | as BT-14 | |
3456 | 64-2221 | Legend Of Aces Aviation | Brighton, Michigan | restoration | |
3458 | 64-3024 | Reynolds-Alberta Museum | Wetaskiwin, Alberta | static | [41] |
3463 | 64-2207 | Texas Air Museum | San Antonio, Texas | as BT-14[42] | [43] |
unknown | unknown | Musée aéronautique de Presqu'île côte d'Amour | La Baule-Escoublac, France | restoration | [44] |
Specifications[]
Data from North American Aviation, Manuel de Pilotage de l'Avion NA-64 P-2 (Avion de Perfectionnement), 1940, pp.8-9
General characteristics
- Crew: 2 (instructor and student)
- Length: 28 ft 4 in (8.64 m) [45]
- Wingspan: 40 ft 1.4 in (12.228 m)
- Height: 8 ft 10.5 in (2.705 m) [45]
- Wing area: 241.67 sq ft (22.452 m2)
- Empty weight: 3,324 lb (1,508 kg) [45]
- Gross weight: 4,500 lb (2,041 kg) [45]
- Max takeoff weight: 4,291 lb (1,946 kg) normal weight per NAA
- Fuel capacity: 104 gallons/394L including 16.5 US gallon/2.45L reserve tank
- Oil capacity 9.5 US gallon/36L[46]
- Powerplant: 1 × Wright R-975-E3 Whirlwind[45][47] radial engine, 420 hp (310 kW)
- Propellers: 2-bladed Hamilton Standard 2D30 hub & 6101A-12 blades, 9 ft 0 in (2.74 m) diameter [48]
Performance
- Maximum speed: 166 mph (267 km/h; 144 kn) sea level
- Cruise speed: 146 mph (127 kn; 235 km/h) 64% power
- Never exceed speed: 300 mph; 261 kn (483 km/h) [49]
- Range: 730 mi (634 nmi; 1,175 km) cruising speed
- Combat range: 475 mi (413 nmi; 764 km) maximum speed
- Endurance: 5 hrs at cruising speed, 2 hours 48 minutes at maximum speed
- Service ceiling: 17,500 ft (5,334 m) full load
- Rate of climb: 1,120 ft/min (5.7 m/s)
- Time to altitude: 11.36 min to 10,000 ft (3320 m)
- Wing loading: 17.76 lb/sq ft (86.7 kg/m2)
- Power/mass: 10.22lbs/hp
Armament
See also[]
- North American NA-16 - initial design, with fabric covered fuselage
- North American BT-14 - similar aside from outer wing panels and Pratt & Whitney R-985 engine.
- North American T-6 Texan - ultimate development of design
- Arado Ar 96
- Curtiss-Wright CW-19R
- Fleet Fort
- Kyushu K10W1
- Vultee BT-13 Valiant
- North American T-6 Texan variants
- List of aircraft of Canada's air forces
- List of aircraft of the Armée de l'Air, World War II
- List of military aircraft of the German Third Reich
References[]
Notes[]
- ↑ As there was no Yale Mk.II, the Mk.I part of the designation was rarely used.
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Smith, 2000, p.29
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Hagedorn, 1997, p.48
- ↑ Fletcher, 1990, p.37
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Fletcher, 1990, p.36
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Fletcher, 1990, p.38
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Fletcher, 1990, p.42
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Fletcher, 1990, p.45
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Fletcher, 1990, p.40
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Fletcher, 1990, p.172
- ↑ Fletcher, 1990, p.170
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Fletcher, 1990, p.171
- ↑ Fletcher, 1990, p.43
- ↑ "EOM 82 Niger" (in French). www.traditions-air.fr. http://www.traditions-air.fr/unit/escadrille/escadrilleoutremer.htm. Retrieved March 2014.
- ↑ Peter D Evans. "LEMB Stammkennzeichen Database". The LEMB Stammkennzeichen Database Project. http://www.luftwaffe-experten.org/stammkennzeichen.html. Retrieved March 2014.
- ↑ 15.00 15.01 15.02 15.03 15.04 15.05 15.06 15.07 15.08 15.09 15.10 15.11 15.12 15.13 15.14 15.15 15.16 15.17 15.18 15.19 15.20 "stamm Dx+xx" The LEMB Stammkennzeichen Database Project accessed March 2014
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 "stamm Nx+xx" The LEMB Stammkennzeichen Database Project accessdate:March 2014
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 stamm Rx+xx accessdate:March 2014
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.4 18.5 18.6 18.7 18.8 stamm Vx+xx accessdate:March 2014
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 Cx+xx accessdate:March 2014
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 stamm Kx+xx accessdate:March 2014
- ↑ stamm Hx+xx accessdate:March 2014
- ↑ stamm Px+xx accessdate:March 2014
- ↑ Fletcher, 1990, p.41
- ↑ Restoration of North American NA-64 Yale 3383 accessdate:March 2014
- ↑ Fletcher, 1990, p.48
- ↑ Fletcher, 1990, p.49
- ↑ Fletcher, 1990, p.51
- ↑ "The Ernie Simmons Story." Spitfire Emporium. Retrieved: 24 December 2011.
- ↑ Aeroflight - Duxford accessdate:1 April 2014
- ↑ North American Yale 3350 accessdate:31 March 2014
- ↑ Milestones of Flight Air Museum: accessdate:31 March 2014
- ↑ Pima Air & Space Museum - Yale accessdate:31 March 2014
- ↑ "NA-64 Yale." Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association. Retrieved: 24 December 2011.
- ↑ North American Yale 3400 accessdate:31 March 2014
- ↑ Bomber Command Museum of Canada - North American NA-64 Yale accessdate:31 March 2014
- ↑ North American Yale 3411 accessdate:31 March 2014
- ↑ Aircraft 3416 Photo accessdate:2 April 2014
- ↑ Fact Sheet: North American BT-14 (NA-64) accessdate:31 March 2014
- ↑ Western Canada Aviation Museum – Winnipeg accessdate:2 April 2014
- ↑ Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame - Wetaskiwin, Alberta accessdate:1 April 2014
- ↑ Currently painted as Luftwaffe example, but with BT-14 nose.
- ↑ Texas Air Museum - North American NA-64
- ↑ Musee Aeronautique Presqu'ile Cote d'Amour accessdate:1 April 2014
- ↑ 45.0 45.1 45.2 45.3 45.4 Canadian Wings.com accessdate: March 2014
- ↑ North American Aviation, 1940, p.29
- ↑ North American Aviation, 1940, p.22
- ↑ North American Aviation, 1940, p.28
- ↑ North American Aviation, 1940, pp.17
Bibliography[]
- Fletcher, David C; MacPhail, Doug (1990). Harvard! the North American Trainers in Canada. San Josef BC/Dundee ON: DCF Flying Books. ISBN 0-9693825-0-2.
- Fletcher, David (1995). "North American Yale". International Plastic Modellers Society of Canada. p. 31.
- Griffin, John A. (1969). Canadian Military Aircraft Serials & Photographs 1920 - 1968. Publication No. 69-2. Ottawa: Queen's Printer.
- Hagedorn, Dan (1997). North American NA-16/AT-6/SNJ (WarbirdTech Volume 11). North Branch, MN: Speciality Press. ISBN 0-933424-76-0.
- Kostenuk, S.; Griffin, J. (1977). RCAF Squadron Histories and Aircraft: 1924–1968. Toronto, ON: Samuel Stevens, Hakkert & Co.. ISBN 978-0888665775.
- Milberry, Larry; Halliday, Hugh A. (1990). The Royal Canadian Air Force at War, 1939-1945. Toronto, ON: CANAV Books. ISBN 978-0921022046.
- North American Aviation (1940). Manuel de Pilotage de l'Avion NA-64 P-2 (Avion de Perfectionnement). Rapport No 1552. Inglewood, CA: North American Aviation.
- Skaarup, Harold A. (2000). Canadian Warbird and War Prize Survivors, Updated Edition. Lincoln, NE: Writers Club Press. ISBN 978-0595122165.
- Smith, Peter Charles (2000). North American T-6: SNJ, Harvard and Wirraway. Wiltshire, UK: Crowood Press. ISBN 1-86126-382-1.
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