| N2T Tutor | |
|---|---|
| |
| Timm N2T-1 basic trainer of the US Navy at the National Museum of Naval Aviation at NAS Pensacola in 2007 | |
| Role | Training monoplane |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | Timm Aircraft |
| First flight | 1940 |
| Primary user | United States Navy |
| Number built | 262 (N2T-1) |
The Timm N2T Tutor is an American training monoplane built by the Timm Aircraft Corporation for the United States Navy as the N2T-1.[1]
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The Timm S-160 (or Timm PT-160K) was a conventional tandem open-cockpit monoplane trainer first flown on the 22 May 1940 by test pilot Vance Breese. It was powered by a Kinner R-5 radial engine and was a low-wing cantilever monoplane with a tailwheel landing gear. It had an unusual feature in that the airframe structure was made from resin impregnated and molded plywood, creating a composite material stronger and lighter than plywood. This process was patented as the Nuyon process and marketed as the aeromold process.[2] The S-160 received the first approval for a plastic-wood construction, (ATC #747), on 28 August 1941.[3]
The PT-175-K variant was fitted with a Kinner R-53 engine. This was followed by the PT-220-C with a 220 hp (164 kW) Continental W-670-6 engine and larger tail.[citation needed]
The PT-220C was evaluated by the United States Navy, which ordered 262 aircraft in 1943 as the N2T-1, incorporating only slight changes from the prototypes.[4] The N2T-1 was a U.S. Navy basic trainer which the Navy nicknamed "Tiny Timm." The entire initial order was delivered in 1943 with no follow-on contract due to the military placing too many orders for Army and Navy trainers.[citation needed]
Although popular and relatively reliable, the N2T-1 was not built for long-term use, especially being made almost entirely of a wood based composite material that proved to be susceptible to decomposing.[citation needed] Postwar, the N2T was sold to private owners and 10 remained on the U.S. civil aircraft register in 2001.[citation needed]
An N2T-1, tail number N56308, crashed during the Rocky Mountain Airshow at the Flagler Airport, Flagler, Colorado, on 15 September 1951, killing the pilot and 19 spectators.[5] The Mississippi director of aviation banned airshows in the state that year as a result.[6]
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N2Ts are preserved in U.S. museums, including examples at the National Museum of Naval Aviation at NAS Pensacola, Florida, and at the Air Zoo at Kalamazoo Municipal Airport, Michigan.[7]
Data from The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft[8]
General characteristics
Performance
