Curtiss XN2C Fledgling

The Curtiss XN2C was the prototype of the Fledgling, a primary trainer developed in response to a 1927 U.S. Navy requirement for a new instructional biplane. Selected after a competition against fourteen other designs, the XN2C-1 was powered by a 220-horsepower Wright Whirlwind radial engine. It was a conventional two-bay biplane with staggered, equal-span wings braced by N-struts, tandem open cockpits for instructor and pupil, and a fixed undercarriage that could be readily exchanged for a central float and wingtip outriggers for seaplane training.

The Navy ordered 31 N2C-1s and 20 of the uprated N2C-2 version, which used a 240-horsepower Wright J-6-7 engine. Rather than serving at the main flight school at Pensacola, most Fledglings equipped Naval Reserve units around the country. Several were later converted into radio-controlled target drones, an early experiment in unmanned flight.