The aircraft in
the Museum is a full scale replica of the famous Curtiss
JN-4 Jenny series
biplane trainers of World War I. Elton H. Rowley (1911-1997),
a former Boeing Aircraft Flight Test Engineer, spent six and one-half
years researching and building the airplane. Some changes were made from
the original JN-4D in order to meet modern-day Federal Aviation Administration
standards. The fuselage is made of welded steel tubing rather than spruce.
Disc brakes were added as well as a small wheel in the tail skid. The
engine is an air-cooled TANK modification of the liquid-cooled Curtiss
OX5 used on original JN-4Ds. Some modern instruments were mixed in with
the old ones. Fourteen inches were removed from each wingtip so the aircraft
could fit into a standard T-hangar.
In
a 1973 magazine article Rowley commented, in part, “…you
probably can’t imagine the difficulty of building a 3-dimensional
airplane in 1970 from 2-dimensional plans and specs dating back to before
World War I. You’d look at them and wonder how they did some of
the things…” Rowley and friends hand carved the propeller
from a 10-foot club of laminated birch. About flying the plane, Rowley
said, “You have to fly it all the time. A Jenny’s never going
to fly you.”
The
Jenny’s
Aircraft Log lists its first flight as May 16, 1969. Elton Rowley donated
the
aircraft to Combat Air Museum on November 5,
1985.
Curtiss
Jennys trained all World War I US pilots. Curtiss and other companies
produced over
5,000
of the JN-4 series. Most US-built planes
went to the US Army and a few hundred went to the US Navy. Canadian Aeroplanes
Ltd. built the JN-4(Can) or Canuck. Curtiss had earlier produced a J
series and an N series, then combined the best features of these two
to produce the JN series. “Jenny” was born from JN. Besides
being a trainer, a number of Jennys were converted to ambulance planes.
By the time the
Army and Navy declared the JNs obsolete in 1927, many surplus planes
had already entered the civilian market at bargain prices.
Many former World War I pilots and newcomers as well, flew the planes
trying to make a living as barnstormers, giving airplane rides out of
pastures and flying as stunt pilots. Charles A. Lindbergh was among them,
going on a barnstorming tour of the Midwest with his $500 JN-4 purchased
in 1923. It was in this role that the Jenny perhaps gained its greatest
fame. Flying Circuses were born with death defying and sometimes death
dealing stunts. The 1975 cinema production 'The Great Waldo Pepper' deals
with the barnstorming era of the 1920s and early 1930s.
In a more docile but sometimes equally dangerous role, the Jenny served
as a mail plane in the first continuous airmail service between Washington
D.C. and New York City and in other airmail routes. A number of planes
and pilots were lost due to weather and mechanical problems during the
inaugural AirMail service flights.
This
JN-4D-2 appeared in the 1989 NBC TV movie “Cross of Fire” which
was partially filmed in and around Topeka. It was featured in scenes
filmed at Vinland, Kansas, about 46 miles southeast of Topeka.
|
Original/Replica |
Manufacturer:
|
Rowley-Curtiss |
Basic Role: |
Trainer |
Crew: |
Two
|
Engines:
|
Curtiss OX-5 8-cylinder, V-type, water-cooled/Tank OX5 (Model
V502) air-cooled
|
Maximum speed:
|
75 mph (121km/hr at sea level/62 mph (100km/hr)
|
Max. Range:
|
|
Service Ceiling: |
6,500ft (1,980m)
|
Wingspan:
|
43 feet 7 inches (13.3m)/41 feet 3 inches (12.6m)
|
Length:
|
27 feet 3 inches (8.3m)/Same
|
Height:
|
9 feet 10 inches (3m)/Same
|
Weight (empty)
|
1,350 lbs. (612kg)/1,600 lbs. (726kg)
|
Weight (gross)
|
2,016 lbs. (914kg)/2,188 lbs. (992kg)
|
Armament:
|
None
|
Serial number:
|
R101
|
|
|
