The Curtiss CR was a racing aircraft designed for 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 ...

in 1921 by Curtiss. It was a conventional single-seater biplane with a monocoque fuselage and staggered

single-bay A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a ...

wings of equal span braced with N-struts. Two essentially similar landplane versions were built as the CR-1 and CR-2, which were both eventually converted to seaplanes as the CR-3 in 1923 and CR-4 in 1924. A refined version was developed for the

US Army Air Service The United States Army Air Service (USAAS)Craven and Cate Vol. 1, p. 9 (also known as the ''"Air Service"'', ''"U.S. Air Service"'' and before its legislative establishment in 1920, the ''"Air Service, United States Army"'') was the aerial warf ...

under the designation R-6. These latter two aircraft featured refined aerodynamics included surface-mounted radiators.

Operational history

The Curtiss CRs enjoyed successful racing careers. Their first major win was at the 1921 Pulitzer Trophy race, where piloted by

Bert Acosta Bertrand Blanchard Acosta (January 1, 1895 – September 1, 1954) was a record-setting aviator and test pilot. He and Clarence D. Chamberlin set an endurance record of 51 hours, 11 minutes, and 25 seconds in the air. He later flew in the Span ...

the CR-1 took first place with an average speed of 176.75 mph (283.49 km/h), nearly two minutes ahead of its closest rival. The following year, this aircraft was modified and redesignated CR-2 and joined in the Pulitzer race by a second aircraft built to the same new standard, plus two R-6s flown by Army pilots. These Curtiss aircraft took first through fourth place, the two R-6s followed by the two CR-2s. The race was won by Lt.

Russell Maughan Russell Lowell Maughan (March 28, 1893 – April 21, 1958) was an officer in the United States Army and a pioneer aviator. His career began during World War I, and spanned the period in which military aviation developed from a minor arm of t ...

with an average speed of 205.856 mph (330.172 km/h) with Lt. Lester Maitland in second place (198.850 mph/318.936 km/h). Maughan's effort incidentally broke every closed-circuit airspeed record up to 124 mi (200 km). The CR-2s took third and fourth places piloted by Lt Harold Brow (average speed 193.695 mph/310.667 km/h) and Lt Jg Al Williams (average speed 187.996 mph/301.527 km/h). The Army built upon this success with the R-6s by using the aircraft to break the world airspeed record before 1922 was over, Gen

Billy Mitchell William Lendrum Mitchell (December 29, 1879 – February 19, 1936) was a United States Army officer who is regarded as the father of the United States Air Force. Mitchell served in France during World War I and, by the conflict's end, command ...

flying one to 224.28 mph (359.72 km/h) on 18 October. In March the following year, an R-6 flown by Lt. Maughan lifted the record to 236.587 mph (380.74 km/h). The R-6 design was developed in 1923 into the longer-winged XPW-8, the prototype of the PW-8 fighter. In 1923, the CR-2s were fitted with floats for the

Schneider Trophy The Coupe d'Aviation Maritime Jacques Schneider, also known as the Schneider Trophy, Schneider Prize or (incorrectly) the Schneider Cup is a trophy that was awarded annually (and later, biennially) to the winner of a race for seaplanes and flyin ...

race and redesignated CR-3. The aircraft took first and second place, piloted by David Rittenhouse (average speed and Rutledge Irvine . After the 1924 Schneider Trophy race was cancelled, CR-3 ''A6081'' was flown by Lt. G.T. Cuuddihy to set up new World's closed-course seaplane record oc . ''A6081'' was further modified as the CR-4 for use as a test-bed and trainer for the 1926 Schneider Trophy racing team.

Variants

;CR-1: the first CR with US Navy serial ''A6080'', with Lamblin radiators between the undercarriage struts. ;CR-2: the second CR ''A6081'', fitted with streamlined wheels and wing surface radiators. ;CR-3: both ''A6080'' and ''A6081'' were converted to CR-3 standard with floats and Curtis D-12 5PL engines. ;CR-4: CR-3 ''A6081'', modified as a test-bed and trainer for the 1926 Schneider Trophy race team.

Operators

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(CR) *

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

(R6)

Specifications (CR-3 Seaplane)

LT David Rittenhouse (center) Cowes, England Sep1923

References

;Bibliography * *

External links