Curtiss JN-4D Jenny

The Curtiss JN-4D "Jenny" was the definitive version of America's most famous World War I-era trainer. A two-seat, single-engine biplane powered by a 90 hp Curtiss OX-5 V-8, the JN-4 series became the principal primary trainer of the U.S. Air Service, and the JN-4D introduced in 1917 was produced in by far the largest numbers. Thousands were built, and the Jenny taught the overwhelming majority of American (and many Canadian) military pilots to fly during the war.

After the Armistice, vast quantities of surplus Jennys were sold cheaply into civilian hands, where they became the iconic mount of the barnstorming era, giving countless Americans their first sight, and ride, in an airplane through the 1920s. Forgiving and simple, the JN-4D is among the most historically significant aircraft in early American aviation.