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A Curtiss Question


Tweener

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Would anyone be interested in having a collection of photos of the Curtiss Hawk Series all in one place? I have been compiling as many photos as I can find and have been sorting them out by type (P-6A, YP-20, XP-23, just to name a few). I have been thinking about posting this as a sort of one-stop reference to the series, but I'm not sure if interest is high enough, or where exactly I should post them if it is.

 

Is anyone interested or does anyone have advice?

 

Thank You,

Tweener

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4 hours ago, David Hényk CZ said:

I'm desperately looking for detail photo of the arresting hook used at Curtiss BF2C.

Couple of decent views in these two photo walkarounds. Hope they are of use. You might also look for builds of the 1/32 kit for what the tailhook bay looked like.

Mike

 

https://www.cybermodeler.com/aircraft/bf2c/bfc-2_walk.shtml

 

https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/threads/curtiss-bf2c-1-f-11c-hawks.48256/

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Hello Mike,

 

thanks for links. I know that thread from ww2aircraft forum. It has provided me a lot of details for BF2C-1. There is nice photo of rear fuselage section, unfortunately lacking arresting hook. Probably Curtiss III export version.

Good hint with 1/32 builds 👍, I'll check it.

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@72modeler

@Corsairfoxfouruncle@dogsbody

One thing I should probably note is that for now, I am only focusing on USAAC types. Would you still be interested?

As for format, I am thinking I will type up short descriptions of each of the aircraft (2-3 paragraphs) with all the photos I can find. Does that sound good?

 

Thanks,

Tweener

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Here is an example of what I have in mind:

 

XP-23

 

The XP-23 was the last biplane fighter design produced by Curtiss Aircraft. Developed from the P-6E, it received a new monocoque aluminum fuselage, new tail surfaces, landing gear, and a more pronounced nose that housed a supercharged V-1570. The final aircraft was a far more aerodynamic one, essentially a cleaned up P-6E.

It’s fine looks were deceiving. Weighing in at 4124 pounds gross, the aircraft was excessively heavy. This increased weight almost 800 pounds worth, doomed the aircraft to mediocre performance. At sea level, it was able to reach a top speed of roughly 180 mph (289 kph). This increased to 203 mph (327 kph) at 15,000 feet and the service ceiling was 26,000 feet. Armament was the standard 2 x .30-cal machine guns above the nose. As an option, one of these could be replaced by a more powerful .50-cal.

In the end, the XP-23 was returned to Curtiss because it was a product of a bygone age. The Army had placed it’s order for the first Boeing P-26 monoplanes during the development and testing of the XP-23, ending the days of the biplane Pursuits. Once it had been determined that no orders would be forthcoming, the XP-23 (then known as the YP-23) was modified to serve as a test aircraft for radiator drag testing. The supercharger was removed and a 2-bladed prop replaced the original 3-bladed unit. Briefly, the radiator was also removed and in its place a hose transferred the used coolant liquid into an overhead tank that then discharged it safely away from the pilot. The wings of the XP-23 went on to serve as the basis for the wings of the Naval F11C Goshawk fighter.

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I think there will be a lot of interest in what you are proposing to post. One of the things I have noticed is how many features and structures are the same in the Hawk lineage- especially wings, stabilizers and landing gear, with the P-6 series having so many parts in common, as well as for the P-12 family and its predecessors. I vaguely recall some vacform conversions and resin kits  for some of these back in the day, but never got them, and I imagine they would be almost impossible to find at any price nowadays. If I had @Moa 's scratchbuilding skills, I would be all over this subject, as I've got a stack of Monogram F4B-4's, P-6E's, F11C's, and Matchbox P-12E's which could be used to do many of the possible conversions, and while I think I have more modeling skills now than I did 30 years ago, I don't have the same nerve! That being said, seeing more reference material on  possible projects might just be the inspiration I need to get off my butt and try one! Does that make any sense?

Mike

 

Hey, Moa- have you ever done or considered doing a Boeing 100? Should be a piece of cake (or plasticard!) for you!

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3 hours ago, 72modeler said:

I think there will be a lot of interest in what you are proposing to post. One of the things I have noticed is how many features and structures are the same in the Hawk lineage- especially wings, stabilizers and landing gear, with the P-6 series having so many parts in common, as well as for the P-12 family and its predecessors. I vaguely recall some vacform conversions and resin kits  for some of these back in the day, but never got them, and I imagine they would be almost impossible to find at any price nowadays. If I had @Moa 's scratchbuilding skills, I would be all over this subject, as I've got a stack of Monogram F4B-4's, P-6E's, F11C's, and Matchbox P-12E's which could be used to do many of the possible conversions, and while I think I have more modeling skills now than I did 30 years ago, I don't have the same nerve! That being said, seeing more reference material on  possible projects might just be the inspiration I need to get off my butt and try one! Does that make any sense?

Mike

 

Hey, Moa- have you ever done or considered doing a Boeing 100? Should be a piece of cake (or plasticard!) for you!

Indeed:

 

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3 hours ago, 72modeler said:

I think there will be a lot of interest in what you are proposing to post. One of the things I have noticed is how many features and structures are the same in the Hawk lineage- especially wings, stabilizers and landing gear, with the P-6 series having so many parts in common, as well as for the P-12 family and its predecessors. I vaguely recall some vacform conversions and resin kits  for some of these back in the day, but never got them, and I imagine they would be almost impossible to find at any price nowadays. If I had @Moa 's scratchbuilding skills, I would be all over this subject, as I've got a stack of Monogram F4B-4's, P-6E's, F11C's, and Matchbox P-12E's which could be used to do many of the possible conversions, and while I think I have more modeling skills now than I did 30 years ago, I don't have the same nerve! That being said, seeing more reference material on  possible projects might just be the inspiration I need to get off my butt and try one! Does that make any sense?

Mike

 

Hey, Moa- have you ever done or considered doing a Boeing 100? Should be a piece of cake (or plasticard!) for you!

And another 100:

 

 

 

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

@MoaNot a problem! I was just looking for your page to see if you had done any Boeing 100's, so the timing could not have been better!

 

@72modelerWould a page that just lists the common parts between different airframes be useful? I could update it as I continue to post each aircraft.

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13 minutes ago, Tweener said:

@MoaNot a problem! I was just looking for your page to see if you had done any Boeing 100's, so the timing could not have been better!

How do you do the "@Moa" thing to show as a mention (and therefore I get a notice)?

I tried several things but never works for me just putting the "@" before the name.

Cheers

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1 hour ago, Moa said:

How do you do the "@Moa" thing to show as a mention (and therefore I get a notice)?

Moa,

Go to the FAQ section and scroll down until you see the question below; click on  it and you will see how to do this.

I'd like to get someone to view my topic or post

Basically, you just type the @ symbol and then start typing the letters of the name of the person you want to see your post or comment- as you do this, a drop-down menu will appear with the usernames of BM'ers that begin with those letters' the closer you get to the spelling of their name, the fewer choices you will need to look at. When you see the username of the person you want to see your comment/post, click on it, and it will be inserted in the space after the last thing you have typed; to show your post to more than one member, simply type the @ symbol again and repeat the process. Until I knew some of the "regulars" better, I wrote their usernames down so I could speed up the process. Good luck,, my friend! If all else fails, Mike or Julien are the guys to ask!

Mike

Edited by 72modeler
corrected spelling
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  • 1 month later...

Apologies for going MIA for most of the summer - time has a funny way of running short when you need it most, evidently. The good news is that my schedule is starting to free up again, so I wanted to ask you all if there were any particular Hawk variants you would like to see me post about first. So far, I have some notes on the YP-20, P-6E, and XP-22, but I could certainly look into others as requested.

 

Thanks, Tweener

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19 hours ago, Tweener said:

so I wanted to ask you all if there were any particular Hawk variants you would like to see me post about first. So far, I have some notes on the YP-20, P-6E, and XP-22, but I could certainly look into others as requested.

F9C Sparrowhawk if you can find anything. Ive found a little but not much. This is one of my holy grail 🍷 or 🦄 builds. The F11 Goshawk would also be a chosen one. 

 

Dennis

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