Curtiss R3C
{{Infobox aircraft
|name = Curtiss R3C
|logo =
|image =Curtiss Racer NASA GPN-2000-001310.jpg
|caption =Curtiss R3C-2
|type = Racing aircraft
|manufacturer = Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company
|designer =
|first_flight = 18 September 1925
|introduction = 1925
|retired =
|status =
|primary_user = US Navy
|more_users = US Army
|produced =
|number_built = 3
|developed_from = Curtiss R2C
|variants =
}}
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-1Also given the "paper" designation F3C as fighters in the US Navy designation system: Swanborough and Bowers 1976, p.127. was the landplane version and Cyrus Bettis won the Pulitzer Trophy Race in one on 12 October 1925 with a speed of {{convert|248.9|mph|km/h|abbr=on}}.
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 {{convert|232.57|mph|km/h|abbr=on}}, 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 {{convert|245.7|mph|km/h|abbr=on}}, 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 {{convert|231.364|mph|km/h|abbr=on}}.
Operators
File:Curtiss R3C-2 A6979 3 USAFM 22.04.74 edited-3.jpg near Washington]]
;{{USA}}
- 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)
File:Curtiss R3C-2 at Naval Aircraft Factory 1926.JPG in 1926.]]
{{Aircraft specs
|ref=Curtiss Aircraft 1907–1947{{cite book |last1=Bowers |first1=Peter M. |title=Curtiss aircraft, 1907-1947 |date=1979 |publisher=Putnam |location=London |isbn=0370100298 |pages=233–239}}
|prime units?=imp
|crew=1
|length ft=22
|length in=0
|length note=
|span ft=22
|span in=0
|span note=
|height ft=10
|height in=4
|height note=
|wing area sqft=144
|wing area note=
|aspect ratio=
|empty weight lb=2135
|empty weight note=
|gross weight lb=2738
|gross weight note=
|max takeoff weight lb=
|max takeoff weight note=
|fuel capacity=
|more general=
|eng1 number=1
|eng1 name=Curtiss V-1400
|eng1 type=V-12 water-cooled piston engine
|eng1 hp=565
|prop blade number=2
|prop name=fixed-pitch propeller
|prop dia ft=
|prop dia in=
|prop dia note=
|max speed mph=245
|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=290
|range note=at full throttle
|combat range miles=
|combat range note=
|ferry range miles=
|ferry range note=
|endurance=
|ceiling ft=
|ceiling note=
|g limits=
|roll rate=
|climb rate ftmin=
|climb rate note=
|time to altitude=
|wing loading lb/sqft=
|wing loading note=
|fuel consumption lb/mi=
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}}
In popular 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.
See also
References
{{reflist}}
- 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}}.
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20091028210123/http://geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Lab/4515/r3c2.htm The Golden Age of Aviation – Curtiss R3C-2]
- [http://www.airracinghistory.freeola.com/Pulitzer%20Trophy%20Races.htm Pulitzer Trophy web site]
- [http://www.hydroretro.net/coupefr/1925.htm Schneider Trophy 1925 web site (french)]
- German edition “Flugzeuge”, Enzo Angelucci, 1974 {{ISBN|3-8068-4024-5}}
- [http://www.airrace.com/ResultsSchneider.htm results of the Schneider Trophy from the Society of Air Racing Historians]
External links
{{Commons category|Curtiss R3C}}
- [http://www.airminded.net/r3c/r3c.html The Curtiss R3C Page]
- [https://archive.today/20040921062004/http://www.hydroretro.net/coupefr/avions/r3c2.htm computer-designed picture (and photo) at www.hydroretro.net]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20071124045613/http://www.nasm.si.edu/imagedetail.cfm?imageID=1114 photo of the R3C-2] in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
{{Curtiss aircraft}}
{{USN racing aircraft}}
Category:1920s United States sport aircraft
Category:Aircraft first flown in 1925