Wheatfield, NY — In mid-July, the Niagara Aerospace Museum helped remove a biplane from the Rich Renaissance Center in Buffalo where it had hung on display for nearly three decades.
Many people thought it was a version of the WWI-era Curtiss Jenny – a famous plane that was built locally.
But it turns out that it is not.
“Even I was fooled and I thought it was a Jenny,” laughed Nelson Faso from the Niagara Frontier Vintage Aircraft Group.
After being examined by the Aerospace Museum, it has been determined that the old plane was actually a J-1 trainer originally built for WWI pilots by the Standard Aircraft Corporation in New Jersey.
The J-1 trainers had a terrible reputation for flying.
Research shows that the US Army Air Corps cancelled a contract to buy 2,600 of the planes, opting instead to buy the Curtiss JN-4’s (Jenny’s) being manufactured in Buffalo.
The plane is now at the Niagara Aerospace Museum restoration area in Wheatfield.
Time, Money, and Historic Research Needed for WWI Airplane Restoration (video)