Image of the Air Force wings with the museum name underneath

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Consolidated PT-1 Trusty

By 1924 the U.S. Army Air Service needed a new primary training aircraft, and the Army chose the PT-1 designed by Consolidated Aircraft Corp. of Buffalo, N.Y. Deliveries began in 1925, and the PT-1 became the first training airplane purchased by the Army Air Service in substantial quantity following World War I. All totaled, Consolidated delivered 221 PT-1s to the Army Air Service, and aviation cadets in Texas and California flew it extensively during the late 1920s and early 1930s.

Developed from the Dayton-Wright TW-3 airplane, the PT-1 featured a welded fuselage framework of chrome-molybdenum steel tubing. A departure from the all-wood structures found in other trainers, the structure proved so sturdy and dependable that the PT-1 earned the nickname "Trusty." Easy to fly, the Trusty made some students overconfident, and they received a shock when they advanced to faster airplanes with more difficult handling characteristics.

The museum obtained the airplane on display from The Ohio State University in 1957.

TECHNICAL NOTES:
Armament: None
Engine: Wright "E" of 180 hp (Hispano-Suiza design)
Maximum speed: 99 mph
Range: 310 miles
Ceiling: 13,450 ft.
Span: 34 ft. 9 1/2 in.
Length: 27 ft. 8 in.
Height: 9 ft. 6 in.
Weight: 2,550 lbs. loaded


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