Ed Browder & the Yellow Peril

It is now March 2005 and we are rapidly nearing the 50th anniversary since our graduation. In the first six weeks of this year we have already lost five classmates. The first of the five is Edward Hughes Browder whom most of us can remember because he was in an N3N on a familiarization flight when the plane went into an unrecoverable spin and crashed killing the instructor pilot and injuring Ed. An exchange of e-mails on the class LISTSERVE started after the announcement of Ed's passing. These e-mails and the writeup on Ed in the March 2005 Shipmate Class Notes are presented in this link.

Many of us have memories - good and bad - about our own N3N experiences. Since this class website was established in 1997 there have been several discussions on the class LISTSERVE about these experiences and some have resulted in pages on this website. Because these pages may now be difficult to find, this new page has links to all the related experiences and a few pages on the N3N specifications and history which some may find quite entertaining. A search on Google will turn up many interesting pages on the N3N. Just enter "N3N" and hit enter in the search box and you will find hours of entertainment.

Two of the finds on Google are presented here:

The history of the N3N and the Naval Aircraft Factory in great detail. Mentioned are two of the first flights from MUSTIN FIELD in Philadelphia. This is a complete accounting of the life of the N3N and is very well done. For example, did you know how the name "Yellow Peril" came about? Since 1917, the generic name "Yellow Peril" was used for all Navy Primary Trainers. The name originated from the fact that all were painted yellow and that if a cadet failed to solo within a certain time he was in "Peril" of not being appointed an Aviation Cadet.
http://www.zenoswarbirdvideos.com/N2SLANDINGSRV1056.rm is a link that will open a WWII Primary Flight Training film narrated by Robert Taylor, the movie star. This plays the film in Real Player. It shows the landing of an N2S which is almost the same plane as the N3N.

The N3N was the last open cockpit biplane in military service. 35 of these biplanes were at the USNA from the early 1950s through 1961. Four more pages about the N3N are on this website:

A few facts and a large picture of an N3N hanging in the museum at Pensacola.
The class Cold War Memorial mural showing the N3N in flight. If you click the image you will open a close-up of that picture and a link to the below Sea Story, which is now also on the Sea Stories page.
A Sea Story about Pat Taylor's flight in an N3N.
An eMemory about second class cruise on the Bennington.

Ed Browder and the N3N "Yellow Peril"