Curtiss AT-9

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The Curtiss-Wright AT-9 Jeep was a twin-engined advanced trainer aircraft used by the United States during World War II to bridge the gap between single-engine trainers and twin-engine combat aircraft. The AT-9 was of a low-wing cantilever monoplane configuration, had retractable landing gear and was powered by two Lycoming R-680-9 radial engines.

Curtiss AT-9 "Jeep"

[edit] Development

Curtiss-Wright anticipated the requirement for this type of plane and designed the Curtiss-Wright CW-25, a twin-engine trainer, which possessed the takeoff and landing characteristics of a light bomber aircraft.

[edit] Operational history

The first prototype flew in 1941 and the production version entered service as the AT-9 in 1942. Named the "Fledgling" by Curtiss-Wright, it commonly became known as the "Jeep" in the USAAC. The prototype CW-25 had a fabric-covered steel tube fuselage and fabric-covered wings, but production AT-9s were of stressed metal skin construction.

The AT-9 was not easy to fly or land, which made it particularly suitable for teaching new pilots to cope with the demanding flight characteristics of a new generation of high-performance, multi-engine aircraft such as the B-26 Marauder and P-38 Lightning. However, many pilots who have flown both the AT-9 and the P-38 have said that the Lightning should have been used to train people to fly the Jeep!

Four hundred ninety-one AT-9's were built before production ended in February 1943.

Because of its difficult flying characteristics the AT-9 was not offered for sale to civilians after the War, although many non-flying examples were given to ground schools for training purposes.

[edit] Survivors

Curtiss AT-9 at the National Museum of the United States Air Force

Two AT-9's survive today. One AT-9A is on permanent display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. While the wreckage of an AT-9A recovered from a crash site in 2003 was turned over to the Pima Air & Space Museum for restoration. The aircraft is incomplete and will require a long and extensive restoration for display.