The story goes back even before North American Aviation put its name on its aircraft but served as the parent to General Aviation at Dundalk. Maryland, where types GA-l to GA-15 wars created. In late 1934 the US Army issued a requirement for a new basic trainer; the next type encountered by pupil pilots after they had encountered the lower powered primary trainer. The General Aviation design team, under vice-president J. Lee Atwood, quickly produced a cantilever low-wing monoplane with all-metal structure (including a wing skinned with flush riveted stressed skin, though the rest of the aircraft was mainly fabric covered), fixed cantilever main legs, a 400-hp (298-kW) Wright R-975 Whirlwind engine and modern open cockpits. Instead of becoming the GA-16 it was styled as the NA-16, reflecting