OSHKOSH, WIS. – EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, July 28 – August 3, 2014, is where everyone wants to display their rare aircraft, as did Don and Ann Pellegreno of Rhome, Texas.
Flying at a respectable 135-140 mph, the Pellegrenos arrived at Oshkosh in their one-of-a-kind Fairchild XNQ-1/T-31 in 7 hours with two fuel stops.
The Fairchild XNQ-1/T-31 was designed in 1945. Of the three XNQ-1/T-31s, only the Pellegrenos’ aircraft – 75726 – still exists. Ownership transferred from the Navy to the Air Force; Civil Air Patrol; John St. Clair; Airpower Museum at Antique Airfield, Ottumwa, Iowa; and then to the Pellegrenos.
The XNQ was developed to replace the AT-6 trainer. In September 1947, the U.S. Air Force requested procurement of 50 of the planes in January 1950, 114 in April 1950, and 176 in July 1950, but the influence of the Korean War, politics, and the tricycle gear were factors leading to the eventual selection of the T-34.
In November 1948, it was pointed out that normal procurement channels had not been followed, and Beech requested a fly-off competition, even before the YT-34 had been test flown. On March 17, 1949, the chairman of the evaluation board voted the XNQ-1 first, the T-34 second, and the T-35 third.
The Pellegrenos say that the XNQ is easy to fly, burns 15 gph, and is big, noisy and impressive. The aircraft’s rarity drew large crowds at Oshkosh. At 1950 RPMs and 23 inches of manifold pressure, the XNQ indicates between 135 and 140 mph. A 3.5 hour flight leaves a good reserve.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Pilot, musician and author, Ann Dearing Holtgren Pellegreno, was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1937, went to school in Michigan, and spent most of her life on a farm with an airstrip in Story City, Iowa. In 1967, Pellegreno and a crew of three airmen successfully flew a 1937 Lockheed 10A Electra, similar to the model 10E Electra flown by Amelia Earhart, to complete a world flight that closely mirrored Earhart’s of 1937. On the 30th anniversary of Earhart’s disappearance, Pellegreno dropped a wreath over the tiny Howland Island in her honor and returned to Oakland, California, completing the 28,000-mile commemorative flight on July 7, 1967.
In 1974, Pellegreno was appointed to the Iowa Aeronautics Commission, the first woman thus serving in Iowa, and also to the Iowa Department of Transportation Commission, the first woman in the nation to serve in that capacity. She was inducted into the Iowa Aviation Hall of Fame (1990), the Michigan Aviation Hall of Fame (1991), and the Experimental Aircraft Association – Vintage Aircraft Association Hall of Fame (1997). Pellegreno was inducted into the Iowa Women’s Hall of Fame in 2001.
Pellegreno’s first book, “World Flight, the Earhart Trail” was published in 1971. The first two volumes of her trilogy “Iowa Takes to the Air” were published in 1980 and 1986.