Curtiss Model F

In configuration, these were biplane flying boats powered by a single engine mounted amongst the interplane struts and driving a pusher propeller. The pilot and a single passenger sat side by side in an open cockpit. The wing cellule was derived from the Model E landplane and was of two-bay, unstaggered, equal-span construction with large ailerons mounted on the interplane struts and extending past the span of the wings themselves. The earliest examples of this design were built and sold by Curtiss in 1912 without any designation applied to them; the Model F name only coming into use the following year. Confusingly, Curtiss also used the designation Model E to refer to some early machines in this family, although these were quite distinct from Curtiss landplanes that bore this same designation and all but identical to the Model Fs.

Model Fs built from 1918 featured a revised, unequal-span wing that incorporated the ailerons into the upper wing and sponsons on the sides of the hull to improve the aircraft's handling in water. These were known as the Model MF (for Modernised-F), and years later as the Seagull in the postwar civil market.

The US Navy initially purchased four of these aircraft in addition to the Freak Boat (C-1/AB-1) that it had already obtained and which was retrofitted to approximately the same design as the others. One of these, the C-2 became the first aircraft to fly under automatic control on 30 August 1913 when fitted with a gyroscopic stabiliser designed by Elmer Sperry. The same aircraft (by now redesignated AB-2) then became the first aircraft to be launched by catapult from a warship while underway when it took off from {{USS|North Carolina|ACR-12|6}} on 5 November 1915, piloted by Captain Henry C. Mustin, Navy Air Pilot No.3, and Naval Aviator No. 11. Her sister, AB-3, became the first US heavier-than-air aircraft to see military action when launched from the USS Mississippi on 25 April 1914 on a scouting mission over Veracruz during the United States Occupation of Veracruz.{{Cite web |last=Cressman |first=Robert |date=22 August 2007 |title=Mississippi II (Battleship No. 23) |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/m/mississippi-ii.html |access-date=2022-05-13 |website=NHHC |language=en-US }}

The US Navy bought another eight aircraft before the end of 1916, but orders in quantity only came following the type's selection as the Navy's standard flying-boat trainer in April 1917. An initial batch of 144 of the basic F model were ordered, followed by 22 MFs in 1918. Another 80 MFs were produced under license by the Naval Aircraft Factory. This aircraft was especially useful for training because of its favorable stall recovery, while many other aircraft of the era were likely to stall into a spin.{{cite journal |last=Darden |first=Colgate W. Jr. |year=1984 |title=Naval Aviation in World War I |journal=Proceedings |volume=110 |issue=11 |pages=163–166 |publisher=United States Naval Institute }} A small number of Model Es and Fs were also purchased by the US Army.

The Russian Navy purchased two batches of Model Fs in 1913-14 and operated them as part of the Black Sea and Baltic Sea fleets until replaced by the Model K shortly thereafter. In Italy, the Curtiss representative Enea Bossi secured rights for local license-production of the Type F by the Zari brothers, who built eight examples at their workshop in Bovisa, Milan. The first of these was demonstrated to the Italian Navy on Lake Como on 22 September 1914. The Model F was adopted by Regia Marina on the battleship Dante Alighieri, cruisers Amalfi and San Marco, and the seaplane tender Elba.{{cite web | url = http://www.elicotterienavi.com/aeromobili/appendice_uno.HTM | title = Idrovolante Curtiss "Flying Boat" | access-date = 3 May 2011}}

Rogers Airlines operated a postwar fleet of ten Curtiss Seagulls as late as 1927. The aircraft flew routes out of Miami and Nassau in the winter months and returned to upstate New York for maintenance and barnstorming in the summer.{{cite journal|journal=Sport Aviation|title=The Curtiss Seagull|date=August 1960}}

;Model E

:Designation sometime erroneously applied to certain early members of this family.

;Model F

:Standard production model from 1912 onwards, received this designation 1914, and given numerical designation of Model 7 in 1930.

;White & Thompson 100 hp Curtiss Flying Boat

:Improved version of the Model F flown in March 1913 - Curtiss inter-wing ailerons replaced by ailerons on the upper wing trailing edge.

;White & Thompson Bass-Curtiss Airboat

:Major reconstruction of a Model F fitted with an Anzani engine in June 1914.

;Sperry-Curtiss

:Amphibious version of Model E for Lawrence Sperry.

;School Machine

:Trainer with nose boarding ramp.

;Sport Boat

:Three-seat deluxe version.

;Reid Hydroaeroplane

:Custom version for Marshall Reid with shoulder-yoke aileron controls.

;Model FL

:Model F fitted with wings from Curtiss Model L. Single example, also designated Model 7 built 1917.

;Model BAT

:Tractor-engined prototype for MF, later designated Model 13 in Curtiss sequence.

;Model BAP

:Pusher-engined prototype for MF similar to BAT, later designated Model 14 in Curtiss sequence.

;Model MF

:Modernised version of 1914, production standard from 1918 onwards, later designated Model 18

;Cox-Klemin CK-14

:Model MFs rebuilt and modified to use 180 hp Hispano Suiza engine{{Cite web|url=http://www.aerofiles.com/_cl.html|title=American airplanes: Cl - Cr|website=www.aerofiles.com}}

;Seagull

:Postwar civil version of MF with two additional seats, later designated Model 25. Approximately 16 sold.Bowers 1979, p. 178

;Crane

:Amphibious version of Seagull, later designated Model 20.Bowers 1979, p. 181.

;Judson Triplane

:Enlarged custom triplane version.

;McCormick Flying Boat

:Enlarged, five-seat custom version for Harold Fowler McCormick.

;{{BRA}}

• Brazilian Naval Aviation

;{{flag|Kingdom of Italy}}

• Regia Marina

;{{flag|New Zealand}}

• Walsh Brothers Flying School, New Zealand, 5 aircraft used to train pilots for the Royal Flying Corps

;{{flag|Ottoman Empire}}

• Ottoman Navy - one Model F{{cite book|last=Nicolle|first=David C.|title=Air Power and the Arab World 1909-1955 Volume 1: Military Flying Services in Arab Countries, 1909-191|date=August 2019|publisher=Helion|page=33|isbn=9781912866434}}

;{{flag|Russian Empire|1914}}

• Imperial Russian Navy - received two batches of Model Fs in 1913-14.

;{{flag|United Kingdom}}

• White and Thompson - one Model F

;{{flag|United States|1912}}

• United States Navy
• United States Army
• American Trans-Oceanic Company

• The engine and radiator of a Model F are preserved at the Cradle of Aviation Museum on Long Island.Air & Space Magazine, December 2017/January 2018
• Parts of Model F serial number 112, which crashed in Connecticut in 1915, were incorporated into a restoration by [http://century-aviation.com/ Century Aviation] in Wenatchee, WA in 2016-2018. The plane took its first flight on Moses Lake in Washington on August 21, 2018.{{cite web |last1=Hair |first1=Steve |title=Aviation History Takes Off From Moses Lake |url=https://www.ncwlife.com/aviation-history-takes-off-from-moses-lake/ |website=NCWLife |publisher=NCWLife Channel |access-date=23 August 2018 |date=22 August 2018}}
• Curtiss MF/ Seagull NC903 (ex C903, US Navy A5541) is on display at the Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre, New Zealand.{{Cite web|url=https://www.omaka.org.nz/ww1.html|title=Knights of the Sky - WW1 Exhibition|website=www.omaka.org.nz}}

File:Curtiss MF NC903 Omaka 20170414 Zac Yates.jpg in 2017]]

{{Aircraft specs

|ref=Curtiss Aircraft 1907–1947Bowers 1979, p. 83

|prime units?=imp

|crew=2

|capacity= 1 x stretcher in ambulance conversions

|length sigfig=3

|length ft=27

|length in=9+3/4

|length note=

|span sigfig=4

|span ft=45

|span in=1+3/8

|span note=

|height sigfig=3

|height ft=11

|height in=2+13/16

|height note=

|wing area sqft=387

|wing area note=

|aspect ratio=

|airfoil=USA 1{{cite web |last1=Lednicer |first1=David |title=The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage |url=https://m-selig.ae.illinois.edu/ads/aircraft.html |website=m-selig.ae.illinois.edu |access-date=16 April 2019}}

|empty weight lb=1860

|empty weight note=

|gross weight lb=2460

|gross weight note=

|max takeoff weight lb=

|max takeoff weight note=

|fuel capacity=

|lift lb=

|lift note=

|more general=

|eng1 number=1

|eng1 name=Curtiss OXX-3

|eng1 type=V-8 water-cooled piston engine

|eng1 hp=100

|prop blade number=2

|prop name=fixed-pitch pusher propeller

|prop dia ft=

|prop dia in=

|prop dia note=

|max speed mph=69

|max speed note=

|cruise speed mph=

|cruise speed note=

|stall speed mph=

|stall speed note=

|never exceed speed mph=

|never exceed speed note=

|range miles=

|range note=

|combat range miles=

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|ferry range miles=

|ferry range note=

|endurance=5 hours 30 minutes

|ceiling ft=4500

|ceiling note=

|climb rate ftmin=

|climb rate note=

|time to altitude={{cvt|2300|ft}} in 10 minutes

|wing loading lb/sqft=

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}}

{{aircontent

|related=

• Curtiss Model E
• America flying boat
• White and Thompson No. 3
• Curtiss Model K

|similar aircraft=

|lists=

|see also=

}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book |last1=Bowers |first1=Peter M. |title=Curtiss aircraft, 1907-1947 |date=1979 |publisher=Putnam |location=London |isbn=0-370-10029-8}}
• {{cite magazine|last=Elliot|first=Bryn|title=Bears in the Air: The US Air Police Perspective |magazine=Air Enthusiast|date=March–April 1997|issue=68|pages=46–51 |issn=0143-5450}}
• {{cite magazine|last=Hagedorn|first=Dan|title=Curtiss Types in Latin America|magazine=Air Enthusiast|date=March–May 1992|issue=45 |pages=61–77 |issn=0143-5450}}

• {{cite book |last= Taylor |first= Michael J. H. |title=Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation |year=1989 |publisher=Studio Editions |location=London |pages=193, 278 }}
• {{cite book |title=The Curtiss Flyleaf |year=1987 |publisher=Glenn H. Curtiss Museum of Local History |location=Hammondsport, New York }}
• {{cite book |title=World Aircraft Information Files |publisher=Bright Star Publishing|location=London |pages=File 891 Sheet 43 }}

{{commons category|Curtiss Model F}}

• [http://www.aerofiles.com/_curt.html Aerofiles]
• [https://www.flickr.com/photos/sdasmarchives/6335093381/in/set-72157628106796132/ A Curtiss Model F in front of the Royal Palm, Miami Florida]

{{Curtiss aircraft}}

Model F

Category:1910s United States civil utility aircraft

Category:Flying boats

Category:Single-engined pusher aircraft

Category:Biplanes

Category:Aircraft first flown in 1912

Category:Single-engined piston aircraft