12/31/2012. Remarks by Johan Visschedijk: "As supplies of the unwieldy Wright E engine began to diminish, the USAAC looked to the air-cooled engine for its next trainer. To test the installation of the Wright J-5 Whirlwind, one PT-1 (s/n 27-149, McCook Project Number "P-469") was completed as the XPT -2 in 1927, followed by the XPT-3 (ex-PT-1 s/n 27-177, McCook Project Number "P-479"), also known as the XP-470, which had new wing panels and a revised vertical fin.

In this form, 130 production PT-3s (s/n 28-218, McCook Project Number "P-501"; 28-219 to 28-228; 28-230 to 28-316; 28-318 to 28-347) were built from September 1927. Four PT-3s were delivered to Cuba in 1928, plus one each to Brazil, Peru, and Argentina, following a tour in 1929 by Lieutenant Leigh Wade, Consolidated's sales manager. A small number may also have been used in Mexico.

The PT-3A had the 225 hp Wright R-790-3 Whirlwind engine and minor equipment changes, and production of 120 aircraft (s/n
29-38 to 29-157) was begun in May 1928, fifty of which were sold to the USAAC for just one dollar each after Major-General Mason M. Patrick, the Chief of USAAC, objected to Consolidated's profits on the sale of trainers. The first (29-38) was tested as "P-527", and another (29-115/"P-564") was fitted with a 235 hp R-790B. The Model 12 was a commercial variant (TC 83, November 1928) but none appear to have been built for purely civil purposes."