Curtiss Model K
{{short description|American 1915 single engine flying boat}}
| {{Infobox Aircraft Begin
| name=Model K | image=NATIONAL AERO COAST PATROL COMMN. CURTISS HYDROAEROPLANE OR FLYING BOAT EXHIBITED NEAR HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING LCCN2016866993.jpg | caption= }}{{Infobox Aircraft Type | type=Flying boat | national origin=United States of America | manufacturer=Curtiss | designer= | first flight=January 1915 | introduced= | retired= | status= | primary user=Imperial Russian Navy | more users= | produced= | number built=at least 51 | program cost= | unit cost= | developed from= Curtiss Model F | variants with their own articles= }} |
The Curtiss Model K, also known as the Model 4, was an American single-engined flying boat of World War I. It was an enlarged derivative of Curtiss's Model F and about 50 were built for export to the Imperial Russian Navy.
Design and development
In 1914, the Curtiss Aeroplane Company developed its Model K, an enlarged development of its successful Model F flying boat. It was a three-bay biplane powered by a 150 hp (112 kW) Curtiss V-X engine mounted in a pusher configuration between the wings. Unlike the Model F, its wings were staggered and slightly swept, while its ailerons were mounted on the upper wing instead of between the wings.Bowers 1979, p. 106.Johnson 2009, p. 38.
The first flight of the Model K was delayed by problems with its engine until January 1915, with it being claimed that the aircraft was the largest single-engined flying boat in the world at the time.
Operational history
While the Model K did not attract orders from home, attempts to export it were more successful, resulting in an order for at least 51 aircraft in both flying boat and landplane versions from the Imperial Russian Navy in 1914.[http://aerofiles.com/_curtx.html "Curtiss K through Z"]. Aerofiles. 24 January 2009. Retrieved 5 March 2011.{{refn|Johnson states that the order, for 54 aircraft was placed in late 1915, with deliveries starting in 1916.|group=N}} The crated aircraft were shipped via Vancouver and Vladivostok, resulting in serious delays in the aircraft being reassembled, such that many of them were unseaworthy due to their hulls having cracked.Johnson 2009, pp. 38–39.
Operators
;{{flag|Russian Empire|1914}}
Specifications
{{Aircraft specs
|ref=Curtiss Aircraft 1907–1947Bowers 1979, p. 107.
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References
{{commons category|Curtiss Model K}}
=Notes=
{{reflist|group=N}}
=Citations=
{{reflist}}
=Bibliography=
{{refbegin}}
- Bowers, Peter M. Curtiss Aircraft 1907–1947. London: Putnam, 1979. {{ISBN|0-370-10029-8}}.
- Johnson, E.R. [https://books.google.com/books?id=AtqOSxG9N1YC American Flying Boats and Amphibious Aircraft: An Illustrated History]. Jefferson, North Carolina, USA: McFarland & Company, 2009. {{ISBN|978-0-7864-3974-4}}.
{{refend}}
{{Curtiss aircraft}}
Category:1910s United States military utility aircraft