The Curtiss Model N was a military trainer used primarily by the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
Design and development
The Model N was a two-seat biplane similar to the
Model J, differing in the airfoil and placement of the ailerons, which were mounted between the wings. It was powered by a 90-100 hp
Curtiss OX inline engine. Due to legal issues with the
Wright brothers over the use of ailerons, the sole Model N was modified by locking the ailerons and increasing
dihedral to seven degrees in an effort to prove that aircraft could be flown without ailerons or
wing warping.
The most prolific variant, the N-9, was a
floatplane
A floatplane is a type of seaplane with one or more slender floats mounted under the fuselage to provide buoyancy. By contrast, a flying boat uses its fuselage for buoyancy. Either type of seaplane may also have landing gear suitable for land, ...
equipped with a single central pontoon mounted under the fuselage. A small float was fitted under each wingtip. With the additional weight of the pontoon, a number of structural and aerodynamic changes were required, the design of which made use of
wind tunnel
Wind tunnels are large tubes with air blowing through them which are used to replicate the interaction between air and an object flying through the air or moving along the ground. Researchers use wind tunnels to learn more about how an aircraft ...
data developed at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
, meaning the N-9 was the first American naval aircraft to incorporate wind tunnel data directly into its design. The wingspan was stretched an additional ten feet (three meters), the fuselage was lengthened, the tail surfaces were enlarged, and stabilizing fins were added on top of the upper wing. The N-9 was initially powered by a 100 hp (75 kW)
Curtiss OXX
The Curtiss OXX was an early, dual ignition water-cooled V-8 aero engine derived from the Curtiss OX.
Variants
;Curtiss OXX-2:
;Curtiss OXX-3:
;Curtiss OXX-5:
;Curtiss OXX-6:
Applications
* Aeromarine 39
* Aeromarine 40
* Burgess-Dunne
* Curt ...
-6 engine.
Curtiss was awarded an initial contract for 30 aircraft in August 1916, and an additional 14 were ordered by the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
, which maintained a small seaplane operation. It quickly became apparent that the aircraft was underpowered, so Curtiss replaced the engine with a 150 hp (112 kW)
Hispano-Suiza
Hispano-Suiza () is a Spanish automotive–engineering company. It was founded in 1904 by Marc Birkigt and Damian Mateu as an automobile manufacturer and eventually had several factories in Spain and France that produced luxury cars, aircraft en ...
, manufactured in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
under license by
Wright-Martin
Wright-Martin Aircraft Corporation was a short-lived aircraft manufacturing business venture between the Wright Company (after Orville Wright sold the Wright Company and divested himself from it) and Glenn L. Martin.
History
Company official ...
's Simplex division (later
Wright Aeronautical). The aircraft was redesignated N-9H.
A total of 560 N-9s were built during World War I, most of which were "H" models. Only 100 were actually built by Curtiss. Most were built under license by the
Burgess Company of
Marblehead, Massachusetts
Marblehead is a coastal New England town in Essex County, Massachusetts, along the North Shore (Massachusetts), North Shore. Its population was 20,441 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The town lies on a small peninsula that extends ...
. Fifty others were assembled after the war, from spare components and engines by the U.S. Navy at
Naval Air Station Pensacola in
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
.
Operational history
The first flight of the Model N took place in 1915. The
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
purchased the aircraft for evaluation, but Curtiss repossessed it due to legal issues with the Wright brothers.
Although the consensus in early 1917 among aviators and even the N-9s manufacturer was that the N-9 could not be
looped
''Looped'' is a play by Matthew Lombardo about an event surrounding actress Tallulah Bankhead. It had a Broadway run in 2010, after two previous productions in 2008 and 2009, all three of them featuring Valerie Harper.
Plot
Based on a real even ...
, the pioneering early
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...
aviator
Francis Thomas Evans, Sr.
Francis Thomas Evans Sr. (3 June 1886 – 14 March 1974) was a pioneer aviator. He was one of the earliest United States Marine Corps aviators, one of the first persons to perform a loop in a seaplane, and a pioneer of stall and spin recovery ...
, believed it was possible. On 13 February 1917, he flew an N-9 over the
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...
off Pensacola, Florida, and began attempts to loop it. He succeeded on his fourth try, becoming one of the first persons ever to loop a seaplane (first pilot to loop a seaplane was Polish aviator
Jan Nagórski on 17 September 1916 in
Grigorovich M-9 flying boat). Lacking witnesses, he flew over Naval Air Station Pensacola and repeated the feat. In 1936, he received the
Distinguished Flying Cross for this achievement.
[Knapp, Walter, "The Marines Take Wing," ''Aviation History'', May 2012, p. 51.] More important, however, were the stall and spin recovery techniques he discovered while flying the N-9 that day. During his first three loop attempts, the N-9 stalled before he reached the apex of the loop and fell into a spin. He found that by releasing back-pressure on the stick and aggressively applying opposite rudder to the direction of the spin he could change the spin into a normal dive and recover, something previously thought impossible in an N-9. His stall and spin recovery techniques remain in use to this day by aviators around the world.
Over 2,500 U.S. Navy pilots received their seaplane training in N-9s. Besides this primary role, though, the aircraft was also used to help develop shipborne aircraft operations during World War I, especially the development of ship-mounted launch
catapults. In 1917, several N-9s were provided to the
Sperry Gyroscope Company for conversion to the
Hewitt-Sperry Automatic Airplane configuration, flight testing the new
autopilot components intended to be used in pilotless "aerial
torpedo
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...
es".
The U.S. Navy retired the N-9s in 1927 as more modern trainers became available.
Surviving aircraft
Only one example of the type has survived, and is now a part of the
National Air and Space Museum
The National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, also called the Air and Space Museum, is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States.
Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, it opened its main building on the Nat ...
collection. Originally on display at the
Museum of Science and Industry in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
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, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
, it was later transferred back to the U.S. Navy pending transport to the National Air and Space Museum. The
Naval Air Engineering Laboratory in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, fully restored it in 1966.
Variants
;Model N
:1914 two-seat trainer powered by 100 hp (75 kW)
Curtiss OXX
The Curtiss OXX was an early, dual ignition water-cooled V-8 aero engine derived from the Curtiss OX.
Variants
;Curtiss OXX-2:
;Curtiss OXX-3:
;Curtiss OXX-5:
;Curtiss OXX-6:
Applications
* Aeromarine 39
* Aeromarine 40
* Burgess-Dunne
* Curt ...
engine, similar to
Model J but with different airfoil section. One built for US Army. Later rebuilt as Model O with side-by side seating.
[Bowers 1979, pp. 65–66.]
;Model N-8
:Production version of N for US Army, powered by 90 hp (67 kW)
Curtiss OX-2 engine. Equivalent to JN-3. Four built 1915.
[Bowers 1979, pp. 111–112.]
;Model N-9
:Two-seat single-engined trainer floatplane.
;Model N-9N
:Powered by a 150 hp (112 kW) Wright A piston engine.
;Model N-9C
:The original N-9 floatplane with the 100 hp (75 kW) engine, later became known as the N-9C.
;Model N-9H
:Main production variant powered by 150 hp (112 kW)
Hispano-Suiza
Hispano-Suiza () is a Spanish automotive–engineering company. It was founded in 1904 by Marc Birkigt and Damian Mateu as an automobile manufacturer and eventually had several factories in Spain and France that produced luxury cars, aircraft en ...
;Murray-Carnes all steel airplane
:This aircraft was an all steel development of the Curtiss N-9 requested by secretary Daniels of the Navy Department in 1918 from the J.W. Murray Mfg. Co. of Detroit
Operators
;
*
Brazilian Naval Aviation
Brazilian Naval Aviation ( pt, Aviação Naval Brasileira; AvN) is the air arm of the Brazilian Navy operating from ships and from shore installations.
History
The Brazilian Naval Aviation branch was organized in August 1916, after creation of ...
– N-9H
;
*
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
*
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...
*
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
Specifications (N-9H)
Notes
Bibliography
*
Bowers, Peter M. ''Curtiss Aircraft 1907–1947''. London: Putnam, 1979. .
*
National Air and Space Museum information
* (Brief description of the original Model N of 1914, with illustrations.)
External links
{{Curtiss aircraft
1910s United States military trainer aircraft
Model N
Floatplanes
Single-engined tractor aircraft
Biplanes
Aircraft first flown in 1916