Naval Aircraft Factory N3N-3

Authenticated by its log books, an N3N that 41st U.S. President George H.W. Bush trained in is preserved and still flying—now owned by Stewart Wells.

- GEOFFREY P. JONES

This N3N-3, S/N 2952 and currently registered “N44839,” left the Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia on June 26, 1941, and was immediately assigned to Training Squadron 11 in Corpus Christi, Texas. Cadet Bush’s first flight in this aircraft was with Lt. Knudson on March 23, 1943; the second was with Lt. Hammer on April 26, 1943. Like many N3Ns, it had a long service career after which it was sold as surplus and ended up in California as a crop-duster.