World War II Chronicle: February 23, 1941
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Sports section is on page 26… A formation of Naval Aircraft Factory N2N trainers are pictured on page 40. Here is a better look at this beautiful plane:
The N3N was originally made from aluminum produced for Naval airships. The planes were built at the Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia, which is where popular science fiction writers, Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, and L. Sprague de Camp worked together during the war. After enlisting in the Missouri National Guard, then earning an appointment to the the U.S. Naval Academy (Class of ’29) Heinlein served as a radio communications officer aboard the aircraft carrier USS Lexington (skippered by Ernest King, who would become Chief Naval Officer and Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Fleet during the war) and as a gunnery officer aboard the destroyer USS Roper in the 1930s. During World War II, Heinlein worked as a civilian aeronautical engineer at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, where he recruited Asimov (before the chemist was drafted into the Army in 1945) and de Camp (then a Naval Reserve officer) to work as a researcher.
Evening star. (Washington, D.C.), 23 Feb. 1941. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1941-02-23/ed-1/