Curtiss Condor

[runik12]

Hi, everybody.

In history, there are many cases when aircraft that were not accepted by military aviation were turned into purely civilian modifications and successfully flew in this capacity for many years. This scheme can be safely applied to the transport and passenger aircraft Curtiss Model 18 "Condor", which had "bomber" roots. In 1927, Curtiss took part in a competition to create a heavy bomber for the United States air force (USAC). The aircraft was developed on the basis of the Martin-MB-2 serial bomber, which at that time formed the basis of the heavy bomber squadron. Its redesigned version was named the Curtiss Model 52 XB-2 and showed good performance during testing, which, however, was not enough to accept the aircraft for large-scale production. The order for the b-2 Condor bombers was only 12 copies, while its competitor, the Keystone XLB-6 (later renamed the B-6) was built by the dozens. Such a ridiculously small order did not suit the Curtiss company at all, and then the idea arose to create a transport aircraft based on a bomber. The fuselage has undergone major changes - in accordance with the new requirements, it has become more voluminous - the maximum width reached 2 meters. The cabin was closed, but the box with the biplane wings remained almost unchanged. The first flight of the Curtiss Model 18 "Condor" was made in June 1929, receiving a certificate of airworthiness in August. 6 passenger aircraft were produced, but this model was not a commercial success. In early 1930, Transcontinental air transport took a few cars into experimental service, but they were returned to Curtiss a couple of months later. The Condor was unclaimed for a number of reasons. By 1930, the world was literally filled with Fokker and Ford Airliners, and there was no room for Curtiss among them. The situation was aggravated by the economic crisis, which actually buried the hope of selling manufactured cars. In June, Glen Curtiss, who died two months later, made his last flight from Albany to new York in a Condor. But it was too early to despair. At the end of 1930, the company Eastern Air Transport, which needed to replenish the fleet of aircraft, expressed a desire to purchase all 6 aircraft, but at a significant discount. Curtiss ' commercial Department simply had no choice, and Condor was transferred to eat. On December 10, 1930, three aircraft were installed on the new York-Alabama line, and on January 1, 1931, routes to Miami and St. Petersburg were opened. The flight lasted 14 hours and passed through Richmond, Raleigh, Florence, Savannah, Jacksonville, and Daytona beach. Such flights were very popular with the rich residents of new York, especially since the passengers of the condors were served by flight attendants - an absolute novelty of the service at that time. In addition, the aircraft had a low noise level in the cabin, hot and cold water in the toilet, individual lighting and good ventilation of each seat. Even with its archaic design, condors could still be improved. Therefore, after the removal of Condor liners from service in 1934, they were replaced with a transport modification. In January 1930, engineer Georg page introduced the T-32, later known as the Condor II. Despite the similarity, the difference between the two condors was very great. The t-32 had a newly developed fuselage, more powerful star-shaped engines, and a retractable landing gear. In other words, the Condor II would have been closer to the most modern monoplanes if not for its biplane design. While the company was in crisis, serial construction of the T-32 was postponed. The aircraft was only delivered to the Assembly line in 1933, when the airlines began to appear high-speed monoplanes Boeing and Douglas. "Condor II" could not compete with them, but the company EAT, which is already familiar with the US, bought 9 aircraft. After that, TAT also bought 9 cars. Of course, this volume of sales can not be called good, but, given the situation, the sale of 18 outdated cars can be considered a good deal. In 1933, two T-32S became part of the air force. the designation YC-30, they were used until 1936 for the transport task. The last "Condor II" was made in a special version and was intended for the Byrd polar expedition of 1933-1935. There is no reliable information about the fate of decommissioned condors. But the chronology of aviation accidents indicates the crash of one "Condor", which belonged to the Swiss company Swissair. Aircraft (reg. Number CH-170) crashed on June 27, 1934 near the German city of Tuttlingen, burying all 12 passengers and Crew on Board. The second accident occurred in the United States on mount Mongop (new York). On June 9, 1934, a T-32 flying from new York to Chicago crashed into Last chance hill during a severe thunderstorm and rain. visibility. 7 people were killed. This was the end of Curtiss's Condor plane, if not for business. Local conflicts do not stop on Earth for a single day, and every war is an occasion to profit from the supply of weapons and ammunition. In 1935, American businessman Hugh wells chartered Condor II to transport presumably civilian cargo. In fact, the plane was loaded with weapons and sent to Bolivia, which was at war with Paraguay at the time. It was impossible to fly without intermediate landings, and the transport team decided to land in Peru for refueling. The authorities of Peru mistreated the uninvited guests-after the discovery of contraband cargo, the plane was confiscated and transferred to the use of Condor Peruana de Aviacion. The Condor II successfully completed transport flights to remote areas of the country, and in may 1941 was presented to the Peruvian air force, which used the aircraft for aerial photography of the area until 1956. Sources: David Donald "the Complete encyclopedia of world aircraft". Barnes & Noble Books. new york. 1997 Wikipedia: the Curtiss T-32 "Condor II»
Source: http://aviarmor.net/aww2/aircraft_aux/usa/curtiss_t32_condor.htm

 

The set is very old and killed, it's not even about the lack of more or less pronounced detailing and other flaws of old models (although I came across very decent, even by modern standards, models from other manufacturers), everything is much worse, the details do not converge due to the difference in geometric dimensions, everything is crooked and shabby, glazing with a gap of 1 mm on the side. The molds were manufactured by Ideal Toy Company in 1954. But I still like the old sets, they have a soul or something, an echo of the past time (maybe childhood).

I worked with it for a long time, made a lot of changes, and as it turned out later, I could still do a lot. The decals were a little alive, but after the varnish coating appeared silvering, although before the coating was clearly not noticeable. But as it turned out. Paints and varnishes Mr. Hobby, Vallejo. I didn't get much dirty, the glazing is made of transparent plastic packaging, at the end – a photo of the construction site, if anyone is interested.

 

Enjoy your viewing.

Sincerely, Mikhail

 

 

Edited March 12, 2020 by runik12

[runik12]

Europe's first flight attendant Nelly Hedwig Diener (1912-1934) worked for the Swiss airline Swissair and flew the Curtiss T-32 Condor II. More precisely, the only aircraft modification AT-32C, created specifically for the Swiss. The beginning of Nelly's career in Swissair - may 1, 1934, it did not go unnoticed in the press, it was presented as Engel der Lüfte, "heavenly angel". The main function of the young pretty flight attendant was to distract fourteen passengers from the horror of flying on a new, unusual and not reliable form of transport at that time. To do this, she fed the passengers soup, fruit and sandwiches, gave them tea and coffee, sang them and with them songs including yodel, played cards with them, in General, distracted and occupied the boyak with her beauty and charm. Nelly's career was short - lived-she managed to complete 79 flights. On July 27, 1934, the Condor was flying on the Zurich-Berlin route with intermediate stops in Stuttgart and Leipzig when it got into bad weather and crashed on the border of Switzerland and Germany. All nine passengers, the pilot, the radio operator and the flight attendant were killed. This was the first accident in the history of the venerable air carrier from Switzerland. The cause of the accident was defects in the production of the right wing that were revealed in bad weather-there were cracks in the place of attachment of the engine nacelle to the wing. The wing came off and the plane crashed from a height of 3000 m into the forest, where it also caught fire.

[Roger Holden]

Interesting model, but your historical description is misleading. Your model is of the Curtiss T-32 Condor II, which had nothing to do with the original CO Condor, derived from the B-2 bomber.  Curtiss had functional family names for most of its aircraft....fighters were Hawk I, II,III,IV,etc. Dive bombers were all Helldivers (3 completely different types), Large airliners were Condor (2 completely different types).

[SAT69]

What an incredible build! To look at the finished product one would never guess it was difficult to assemble and finish. 

[runik12]

10 hours ago, Roger Holden said:

Интересная модель, но ваше историческое описание вводит в заблуждение. Ваша модель имеет Curtiss T-32 Condor II, который не имеет ничего общего с оригинальным CO Condor, полученным из бомбардировщика B-2. У Кертисса были функциональные фамилии для большинства его самолетов ... истребителями были Hawk I, II, III, IV и т. Д. Все пикирующие бомбардировщики были Helldivers (3 совершенно разных типа), Большие авиалайнеры были Condor (2 совершенно разных типа).

Thank you for pointing out my error, I shortened the description too much and didn't check it carefully before publishing. I'll try to fix it in the evening. Sincerely, Mikhail

[Unfinished project]

Fantastic build and superb level of detail 

[John_W]

Very nice build of an unusual aircraft. Always looks like it should be a monoplane.

[Toryu]

You built a very handsome model there Mikhail! A rare plane and an even rarer kit. Where do you find those gems? Your painting and rigging skills are extraordinary.

[Wulfman]

Superb job on the Condor! I had the floatplane version, but it never got finished.

 

Wulfman

[runik12]

4 hours ago, Toryu said:

Вы построили там очень красивую модель, Михаил! Редкий самолет и еще более редкий комплект. Где вы найдете эти драгоценные камни? Ваши навыки покраски и такелажа необычайны.

Thank you, I often find old collectible sets on Internet sites, which are brought by friends. Sincerely, Mikhail

[Buzby061]

You've worked miracles on such an old kit. It shows what real skill can do.

 

Pete

[jeaton01]

A fine rendition.  There was a civilian US Condor II that was flown by Clarence Chamberlin on promotion and ride giving tours.  He also operated the earlier Condors that had liquid cooled engines.

[Epeeman]

Amazing detail work here on an old kit resulting in a stunning build

 

Regards

 

Dave

[Orso]

That is a work of art. This kt isn't seen built very often so I am glad that you showed it to us.

I sure would like one in 1/72 scale.

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Beautiful model, nicely built!