Curtiss R3C

Curtiss R3C
	Curtiss R3C-2
Role	Racing aircraft
Manufacturer	Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company
First flight	18 September 1925
Introduction	1925
Primary users	US Navy; US Army
Number built	3
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.

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

United States

United States Navy - two examples
United States Army Air Service - one example

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)

Data from Curtiss Aircraft 1907–1947^[2]

General characteristics

Crew: 1
Length: 22 ft 0 in (6.71 m)
Wingspan: 22 ft 0 in (6.71 m)
Height: 10 ft 4 in (3.15 m)
Wing area: 144 sq ft (13.4 m²)
Airfoil: Curtiss C-80^[3]
Empty weight: 2,135 lb (968 kg)
Gross weight: 2,738 lb (1,242 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Curtiss V-1400 V-12 water-cooled piston engine, 565 hp (421 kW)
Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch propeller

Performance

Maximum speed: 245 mph (394 km/h, 213 kn)
Range: 290 mi (470 km, 250 nmi) at full throttle

In culture

A Curtiss R3C appears in Hayao Miyazaki's 1992 animated movie Porco Rosso featuring a romanticized interwar aviation. The Curtiss R3C is flown by a pilot himself named Curtis. The dialogues also reference the 1925 Schneider Trophy.

References

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

Angelucci, Enzo. World Encyclopedia of Civil Aircraft. London:Willow Books, 1984. ISBN 0-00-218148-7.
Bowers, Peter M. Curtiss Aircraft 1907–1947. London:Putnam, 1979. ISBN 0-370-10029-8.
Swanborough, Gordon and Bowers, Peter M. United States Navy Aircraft since 1911. London:Putnam, 1976. ISBN 0-370-10054-9.
The Golden Age of Aviation – Curtiss R3C-2
Pulitzer Trophy web site
Schneider Trophy 1925 web site (french)
German edition “Flugzeuge”, Enzo Angelucci, 1974 ISBN 3-8068-4024-5
results of the Schneider Trophy from the Society of Air Racing Historians

External links

[1] Also given the "paper" designation F3C as fighters in the US Navy designation system: Swanborough and Bowers 1976, p.127.

[Bowers-2] Bowers, Peter M. (1979). Curtiss aircraft, 1907-1947. London: Putnam. pp. 233–239. ISBN 0370100298.

[Selig-3] Lednicer, David. "The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage". m-selig.ae.illinois.edu. Retrieved 16 April 2019.

[1]

[2]

[3]