BF2C-1 Goshawk | |
---|---|
Curtiss BF2C-1 - Model 67A (on the right) | |
Role | Carrierborne Fighter and fighter-bomber |
National origin | United States |
Manufacturer | Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company |
Introduction | 1933 |
Retired | 1949 |
Primary users | United States Navy Republic of China Royal Thai Air Force Argentine Air Force |
Produced | October 1934 |
Number built | 164 plus 2 prototypes |
Developed from | Curtiss F11C Goshawk |
The Curtiss BF2C Goshawk (Model 67) was a United States 1930s naval biplane aircraft that saw limited success and was part of a long line of Hawk Series airplanes made by the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company for the American military, and for export as the Model 68 Hawk III.
The United States Navy and Curtiss felt that the F11C-2 possessed development potential, and the Navy decided to procure a variant with retractable landing gear. This variant, which still had the F11C-2's classic "Hawk" wood wing with its flat-bottomed Clark Y airfoil, was designated XF11C-3 by the Navy and Model 67 by Curtiss. The main gear retraction system was inspired by the Grover Loening-designed system on the Grumman XFF-1 prototype, and was manually operated. [1]
The XF11C-3 was first delivered to the USN in May 1933, with a Wright R-1820-80 radial engine rated at 700 hp (520 kW ). Trials revealed a 17 mph (27 km/h) increase in speed over the F11C-2, but the extra weight caused a decrease in maneuverability. The Navy felt the handling degradation was more than offset by the increase in speed, however. During testing the XF11C-3 had its wood-framed wing replaced by the metal-structured, biconvex, NACA 2212 airfoil wing, and soon after was redesignated XBF2C-1 (Model 67A) in keeping with the new Bomber-Fighter category. [1]
Twenty-seven BF2C-1 were ordered by the U.S. Navy, with a raised rear turtle deck, a semi-enclosed cockpit, and a metal-framed lower wing. It was armed with two .30 calibre Browning machine guns and three hardpoints for 500 lb (230 kg) of external stores. Delivered in October 1934, they were assigned to VB-5B on the aircraft carrier USS Ranger, but served only a few months before difficulties with the landing gear led to their withdrawal. [2] In spite of its short service run, many of the innovations developed for the Goshawk line found wide use in Navy aircraft in the years that followed. They were the last Curtiss fighter accepted for service with the U.S. Navy. [2]
The export version Model 68 Hawk III reverted to the classic wood/Clark Y wings and was powered by a 770 hp (570 kW) R-1820-F53. Chinese Hawk IIIs served as multi-purpose aircraft when combat operations against the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy Air Forces began in earnest in August 1937, particularly with the Battle of Shanghai and Nanjing, and were considered the Nationalist Chinese Air Force's frontline fighter-pursuit aircraft along with their inventory of Hawk IIs, Boeing Model 281 "Peashooters" and Fiat CR.32s. Col. Gao Zhihang scored a double-kill against the superior Mitsubishi A5M "Claude" (predecessor of the A6M "Zero") over Nanjing on 12 October, 1937 while at the controls of his Hawk III numbered "IV-I" (4th Pursuit Group, Commander). [3] The appearance of monoplanes like the A5M shifted the balance towards the Japanese. [4]
As the air-interdiction and close-air support for the National Revolutionary Army of China continued at the Battle of Shanghai on 14 October, 1937, the Chinese Air Force launched a major strike against Japanese positions in Shanghai at 16:00 hours with a uniquely mixed force of three Curtiss Hawk IIIs escorting three B-10s, two He 111As, five O-2MCs and five Gammas from Nanjing in the late-afternoon, and then one strike launched every hour from Nanking to Shanghai in the evening until 03:00 hours on 15 October. [5] These combination of attacks with the Hawk IIIs were used against both the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy Air Forces, and against both ground and naval targets with considerable success through the end of 1937, before being superseded by the better-armed and faster Polikarpov I-15 and I-16 fighters that were supplied to the Chinese Air Force through the Sino-Soviet Treaty of 1937. [6]
In early 1935, Thailand placed an order for 24 Curtiss Hawk IIIs at a cost of 63,900 Baht each, and a manufacturing license was also bought. The first 12 Hawk IIIs were shipped to Thailand in August and the remaining 12 arrived in late 1935, which were named Fighter Type 10. A total of 50 Hawk IIIs were locally built during 1937 and 1939. The type was used against the French in the Franco-Thai War and the Japanese invaders in December 1941, then relegated for use as trainers. Some of these aircraft were still active in 1949 and one airframe (KH-10) survives in the Royal Thai Air Force Museum. [7] [8]
The Model 79 Hawk IV demonstrator had a fully enclosed cockpit and a 790 hp (590 kW) R-1820-F56.
Data from Curtiss Aircraft 1907–1947, [9] The complete encyclopedia of world aircraft [10]
General characteristics
Performance
Armament
The Martin B-10 was the first all-metal monoplane bomber to be regularly used by the United States Army Air Corps, having entered service in June 1934. It was also the first mass-produced bomber whose performance was superior to that of the Army's pursuit aircraft of the time.
The Boeing P-26 "Peashooter" is the first American production all-metal fighter aircraft and the first pursuit monoplane to enter squadron service with the United States Army Air Corps. Designed and built by Boeing, the prototype first flew in 1932, and the type was still in use with the U.S. Army Air Corps as late as 1941 in the Philippines. There are two surviving Peashooters and three reproductions on display, with two more under construction.
The Curtiss P-36 Hawk, also known as the Curtiss Hawk Model 75, is an American-designed and built fighter aircraft of the 1930s and 40s. A contemporary of the Hawker Hurricane and Messerschmitt Bf 109, it was one of the first of a new generation of combat aircraft—a sleek monoplane design with a retractable undercarriage making extensive use of metal in its construction.
The Mitsubishi A5M, formal Japanese Navy designation Mitsubishi Navy Type 96 Carrier-based Fighter (九六式艦上戦闘機), experimental Navy designation Mitsubishi Navy Experimental 9-Shi Carrier Fighter, company designation Mitsubishi Ka-14, was a WWII-era Japanese carrier-based fighter aircraft. The Type number is from the last two digits of the Japanese imperial year 2596 (1936) when it entered service with the Imperial Navy.
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1932:
The Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa, formal Japanese designation Army Type 1 Fighter is a single-engine land-based tactical fighter used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service in World War II.
A Schnellbomber is a bomber that relies upon speed to avoid enemy fighters, rather than relying on defensive armament and armor.
The Grumman F3F is a biplane fighter aircraft produced by the Grumman aircraft for the United States Navy during the mid-1930s. Designed as an improvement on the F2F, it entered service in 1936 as the last biplane to be delivered to any American military air arm. It was retired from front line squadrons at the end of 1941 before it could serve in World War II, and replaced by the Brewster F2A Buffalo. The F3F, which inherited the Leroy Grumman-designed retractable main landing gear configuration first used on the Grumman FF, served as the basis for a biplane design ultimately developed into the much more successful F4F Wildcat that succeeded the subpar Buffalo.
The Nakajima Ki-27 was the main fighter aircraft used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service up until 1940. Its Allied nickname was "Nate", although it was called "Abdul" in the "China Burma India" (CBI) theater by many post-war sources; Allied Intelligence had reserved that name for the nonexistent Mitsubishi Navy Type 97 fighter, expected to be the successor to the carrier-borne Type 96 with retractable landing gear and an enclosed cockpit.
The Curtiss P-6 Hawk is an American single-engine biplane fighter introduced into service in the late 1920s with the United States Army Air Corps and operated until the late 1930s prior to the outbreak of World War II.
The Curtiss F11C Goshawk is an American naval biplane fighter aircraft that saw limited success. It was part of a long line of Curtiss Hawk airplanes built by the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company for the American military.
The Chinese Nationalist Air Force or simply The Republic of China Air Force was the Air Force formed by the Kuomintang (KMT) after the establishment of the Aviation Ministry in 1920. As tensions mounted between China and Imperial Japan in the 1930s, air units from the Chinese warlords, including those from the Guangdong Provincial Air Force, and overseas Chinese aviators, became integrated into the centralized command of the ROCAF and coordinating with the Second United Front to counter the Imperial Japanese invasion and occupation.
The Northrop Gamma was a single-engine all-metal monoplane cargo aircraft used in the 1930s. Towards the end of its service life, it was developed into the A-17 light bomber.
The Curtiss F7C Seahawk was a carrier-capable biplane fighter aircraft of the United States Navy Marine Corps in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
The Second Sino-Japanese War began on 7 July 1937 with the Marco Polo Bridge incident in the Republic of China and is often regarded as the start of World War II as full-scale warfare erupted with the Battle of Shanghai, and ending when the Empire of Japan surrendered to the Allies in August 1945. The Chinese Air Force faced the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy Air Forces and engaged them in many aerial interceptions, including the interception of massed terror-bombing strikes on civilian targets, attacking on each other's ground forces and military assets in all manners of air interdiction and close air support; these battles in the Chinese skies were the largest air battles fought since World War I, and featured the first-ever extensive and prolonged deployment of aircraft carrier fleets launching preemptive strikes in support of expeditionary and occupation forces, and demonstrated the technological shift from the latest biplane fighter designs to the modern monoplane fighter designs on both sides of the conflict.
The Nakajima A2N or Navy Type 90 Carrier Fighter was a Japanese carrier-borne fighter of the 1930s. It was a single-engined biplane of mixed construction, with a fixed tailwheel undercarriage.
The Douglas O-2 was a 1920s American observation aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company, powered by the Liberty engine of WW1 fame, with some later variants using other engines. It was developed into several versions, with 879 being produced in total. It was used in combat by the Chinese Air Force in the 1930s and also was the basis for a successful mailplane version.
The National Aviation Museum of the Royal Thai Air Force is located in Don Mueang District, Bangkok, Thailand. It is located on the Phahonyothin Road just to the south of Wing 6 of the domestic terminal of the Don Mueang Airport. It has been served by the Royal Thai Air Force Museum BTS station since 16 December 2020.
Goshawk is a name applied to several species of birds of prey. Goshawk may also refer to:
Yue Yiqin was a flying ace of the Republic of China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. He achieved five confirmed aerial victories until his death in combat during the Battle of Nanking. Notably, his family claimed to descend from Yue Fei, a Chinese general and folk hero who had lived during the Song dynasty.
Colonel Gao, with several of the Hawks, went after the A5Ms... which were agile open-cockpit monoplanes, far superior to anything the Chinese had.... In the ensuing melee, Gao drove one down, then jumped by three others engaging him in a lengthy contest. Two A5Ms broke off while a third flew on, making loop after loop, its pilot dead at the controls. Gao was credited with two A5M kills, an impressive achievement.
14 October 1937, at 16:00, 18 aircraft (three Hawk IIIs, three Martin 139WCs (B-10), two Heinkel He111s, five Douglas O-2MCs and five Northrop Gammas) took off from Nanking to attack Shanghai airfields and warehouses. They barely escaped the attack on their airbase by five Japanese bombers escorted by five fighters, which arrived about five minutes after they took off. The Japanese planes bombed the vacant airfield without inflicting much damage... a few hours later, starting at 21:00, one aircraft was sent every hour from Nanking to bomb targets in Shanghai until 03:00 on 15 October.
14 October 1937, at 16:00, 18 aircraft (three Hawk IIIs, three Martin 139WCs, two Heinkel He111s, five Douglas O-2MCs and five Northrop Gammas) took off from Nanking to attack Shanghai airfields and warehouses... barely avoiding attacks by five Japanese bombers escorted by five fighters, that arrived over their airbase about five minutes after taking off. The Japanese planes bombed the vacant airfield without inflicting much damage... a few hours later, starting at 21:00, one aircraft was sent every hour to bomb targets in Shanghai until 03:00 on 15 October.