Curtiss JN-4 (Can) Canuck C496 at Creve CoeurPhotographed at the Historic Aircraft Restoration Museum, Creve Coeur Airport, Maryland Heights, St Louis, Missouri on 27 July 2003.
This was a variant of the Curtiss Jenny, but built in Canada. The Canadian JN-4 evolved from the JN-3, but did so independently of the Curtiss-built JN-4. The two versions are still quite similar. The major visible differences are the shape of the rudder, which is more rounded on the Canuck, and the installation of ailerons on both the top and bottom wings.
Mr. F. G. Ericson, Chief Engineer of Canadian Aeroplanes, Ltd., designed the changes for the Canuck, and it first flew in January of 1917. The actual number built is not known, but about 1260 were delivered as Canadian JN-4 aeroplanes. A further 87 JN-4A models were also built, so total production was about 1347. The U.S. Army purchased about 680 from this production run, designating them JN-4(Can) to distinguish them from Curtiss-built JN-4s.
The U.S. Army flew the Canuck extensively in Texas, training pilots for both the American and Canadian armies. By mid-1918, the Canucks were being phased out, and in early 1919 a large number were sold to the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Corporation for resale. Many of these Canucks ended up as barnstormers in the early 1920s.
Picture added on 27 October 2008
