Curtiss R3C

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Curtiss R3C
Curtiss Racer NASA GPN-2000-001310.jpg
Curtiss R3C-2
General information
Type Racing aircraft
Manufacturer Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company
Primary usersUS Navy
US Army
Number built3
History
Introduction date1925
First flight18 September 1925
Developed from Curtiss R2C

The Curtiss R3C is an American racing aircraft built in landplane and floatplane form. It was a single-seat biplane built by the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company.

Contents

The R3C-1 [1] was the landplane version and Cyrus Bettis won the Pulitzer Trophy Race in one on 12 October 1925 with a speed of 248.9 mph (400.6 km/h).

The R3C-2 was a twin float seaplane built for the Schneider Trophy race. In 1925, from 23 to 26 October, it took place at Chesapeake Bay in Baltimore, Maryland. With 232.57 mph (374.29 km/h), pilot Jimmy Doolittle won the trophy with a Curtiss R3C-2. The other two R3C-2s, piloted by George Cuddihy and Ralph Oftsie, did not reach the finish line. The next day, with the same plane on a straight course, Doolittle reached 245.7 mph (395.4 km/h), a new world record. For the next Schneider Trophy, which took place on 13 November 1926, the R3C-2's engine was further improved, and pilot Christian Franck Schilt took second place with 231.364 mph (372.344 km/h).

Operators

The surviving R3C-2 is displayed at the NASM near Washington Curtiss R3C-2 A6979 3 USAFM 22.04.74 edited-3.jpg
The surviving R3C-2 is displayed at the NASM near Washington
Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States

Survivors

The R3C-2 that Jimmy Doolitle piloted to victory in the 1925 Schneider Trophy race is preserved at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Centre, at Washington Dulles Airport, Virginia. It still wears its '3' 1925 racing number.

Specifications (R3C-2)

The R3C-3 at the Naval Aircraft Factory in 1926. Curtiss R3C-2 at Naval Aircraft Factory 1926.JPG
The R3C-3 at the Naval Aircraft Factory in 1926.
Curtiss R3C-2 at the Barron Hilton Pioneers of Flight Gallery at the National Air and Space Museum, Washington, D.C. Curtiss R3C2 at NASM.png
Curtiss R3C-2 at the Barron Hilton Pioneers of Flight Gallery at the National Air and Space Museum, Washington, D.C.

Data from Curtiss Aircraft 1907–1947 [2]

General characteristics

Performance

See also

References

  1. ↑ Also given the "paper" designation F3C as fighters in the US Navy designation system: Swanborough and Bowers 1976, p.127.
  2. ↑ Bowers, Peter M. (1979). Curtiss aircraft, 1907-1947. London: Putnam. pp. 233–239. ISBN   0370100298.
  3. ↑ Lednicer, David. "The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage". m-selig.ae.illinois.edu. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
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