The Curtiss-Wright CW-22 was a 1940s American general-purpose advanced training monoplane aircraft built by the Curtiss-Wright Corporation. It was operated by the United States Navy as a

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trainer with the designation SNC-1 Falcon.

Design and development

Developed at the Curtiss-Wright St. Louis factory, the CW-22 was developed from the CW-19 via the single-seat CW-21 light fighter- interceptor. The

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...

first flew in 1940. With less power and performance than the CW-21, the two-seat, low-wing, all-metal CW-A22 had retractable tailwheel landing gear, with the main gear retracting rearward into underwing fairings. The CW-22 was seen as either a civilian sport or training monoplane or suitable as a combat trainer, reconnaissance and general-purpose aircraft for military use. The prototype CW-A22 Falcon (U.S. civilian registration NC18067) was used as a company demonstrator and is one of four of the type still in existence. An SNC-1 is on display at the U.S. Navy's National Museum of Naval Aviation, at NAS Pensacola, Florida.

Operational history

The main customer for the aircraft equipped with the

Wright R-975 Whirlwind The Wright R-975 Whirlwind was a series of nine-cylinder air-cooled radial aircraft engines built by the Wright Aeronautical division of Curtiss-Wright. These engines had a displacement of about and power ratings of . They were the largest memb ...

air-cooled radial engine was the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force and 36 were exported. The aircraft had to be delivered to the Dutch in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

due to the advancing

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese forces. A developed version, the CW-22B, was sold to Turkey (50), the Netherlands East Indies (25) and in small numbers in South America. Some of the Dutch aircraft were captured and operated by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force. The CW-22 and CW-22B were armed with two machine guns, one fixed. An unarmed advanced training version (CW-22N) was demonstrated to the United States Navy. To help to meet the expanding need for training, the Navy ordered 150 aircraft in November 1940. Further orders brought the total to 305 aircraft which were designated SNC-1 Falcon. Curtiss converted a CW-19 into a CW-22 demonstrator. They hoped to use this to sell the CW-22 to China. The aircraft was obtained by the Burma Volunteer Air Force, and later used by the Royal Air Force in India. It was scrapped in 1946.

Variants

Curtiss SNC refueling NAS Corpus Christi 1942

Curtiss SNC-1 Falcon at Naval Aviation Museum

;CW-A22 :Prototype ;CW-22 :Production armed variant for the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force, 36 built. ;CW-22B :Improved armed variant, approx 100 built. ;SNC-1 Falcon (CW-22N) : United States Navy designation for the CW-22N, 305 built (BuNo 6290-6439, 05085-05234, 32987-32991).

Operators

; *The Bolivian Air Force operated 10 aircraft. ; * Burma Volunteer Air Force ;

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

* Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force ; *The Imperial Japanese Army Air Force operated captured ex-Dutch aircraft. ; ; * Turkish Air Force ; * The Royal Air Force in India operated the former Burma Volunteer Air Force aircraft ; * United States Navy ; * Uruguayan Air Force 9 SNC-1 aircraft operated from 1942 to 1951.

Surviving aircraft

;Turkey * s/n 2615 – CW-22B on static display at the

Istanbul Aviation Museum The Istanbul Aviation Museum, a.k.a. Turkish Air Force Museum, ( tr, Havacılık Müzesi or Hava Kuvvetleri Müzesi) is a military-based museum for aviation, owned and operated by the Turkish Air Force. The museum is located in Yeşilköy neighbo ...

in Istanbul. ;United States * c/n 3707 – CW-22 in storage at the Fantasy of Flight in Polk City, Florida. * BuNo 05194 – SNC-1 on static display at the National Naval Aviation Museum in

Pensacola, Florida Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ...

. ;Uruguay * SNC-1 on display at the

Colonel Jaime Meregalli Aeronautical Museum The Colonel Jaime Meregalli Aeronautical Museum in an aviation museum located in Ciudad de la Costa, Canelones. History Originating from an exhibition at Cap. Juan Manuel Boiso Lanza Air Base, Capitan Boiso Lanza Air Base, the museum was founde ...

Ciudad de la Costa, Canelones Ciudad de la Costa is a city in Canelones Department of Uruguay, on the banks of the Río de la Plata between the streams Arroyo Carrasco and Arroyo Pando. It is considered an extension of the metropolitan area of Montevideo which it borders to th ...

Specifications (SNC-1)

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Andrade, John. ''U.S. Military Aircraft Designations and Serials since 1909''. Hinckley, UK: Midland Counties Publications, 1979. . * Bowers, Peter M. ''Curtiss Aircraft 1907–1947''. London: Putnam, 1979. . * Bowers, Peter M. ''United States Navy Aircraft since 1911''. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1990. . * Donald, David, ed. ''The Encyclopedia of World Aircraft''. Etobicoke, Ontario: Prospero Books, 1997 . * '' The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982–1985)''. London: Orbis Publishing, 1985. * *

External links

Curtiss-Wright CW-22 Falcon SNC
* ttps://books.google.com/books?id=nCcDAAAAMBAJ&dq=popular+science+September+1941&pg=PA87 ''Popular Mechanics'', November, ''Navy Fliers Win Their Spurs in New Navy Combat Training Plane''early article with photos on US Navy SNC-1 {{USN scout aircraft CW-22 1940s United States military trainer aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Low-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1940