North American NJ-1

North American Aviation · United States · first flew 1937 · transport aircraft

The NJ-1 was the US Navy's version of North American's NA-16 basic trainer, essentially equivalent to the Army's BT-9 but procured for naval aviation training in the late 1930s.

Recognition (WEFT)

WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.

Spot it by:

• Naval basic trainer variant of the NA-16/BT-9 family
• Fixed spatted undercarriage, tandem cockpits
• Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp radial engine

Virtually identical in silhouette to the BT-9 — fixed spatted gear, tandem cockpits, radial cowling — distinguished mainly by USN markings and the Pratt & Whitney engine sound.

Specifications

• The North American NJ-1 has a length of 8.71 m (29 ft).
• It has a wingspan of 12.83 m (42 ft).
• Its maximum speed is 290 km/h (180 mph).
• Typical crew: 2.

Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.

History

The US Navy ordered forty NJ-1s in 1936 as its intermediate trainer, using a Pratt & Whitney Wasp engine instead of the Wright R-975 of the Army variant. They equipped naval training stations and gave naval cadets experience on low-wing monoplanes before progressing to operational types.

Variants

The NJ-1 was a single distinct Navy variant; the broader NA-16 family spawned dozens of Army and export marks, but the Navy did not pursue further NJ sub-variants.

Where you'll see it

Operated at US naval training bases through the late 1930s and into the early years of the Second World War, gradually replaced by the SNJ Texan.

Related aircraft

• Harvard I
• North American A-27
• North American BT-14
• North American BT-9
• Barkley-Grow T8P-1
• Beechcraft 18
• Beechcraft JRB-4 Voyager
• Blohm & Voss BV 138

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