The Curtiss 18T, unofficially known as the Wasp and by the United States Navy as the Kirkham, was an early

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

triplane

fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...

Curtiss Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company (1909 – 1929) was an American aircraft manufacturer originally founded by Glenn Hammond Curtiss and Augustus Moore Herring in Hammondsport, New York. After significant commercial success in its first decade ...

for the US Navy.

Design and development

The Curtiss 18T was intended to protect bombing aircraft over France, and a primary requisite for this job was speed. Speed was not the triplane's only salient feature: an 18T-2 set a new altitude record in 1919 of . The streamlined and very "clean" fuselage contributed to the aircraft's performance. The basic construction was based on cross-laminated strips of wood veneer formed on a mold and attached to the inner structure. The technique was a refinement of that used on the big Curtiss flying boats."Curtiss # to J."
''aerofiles.com.'' Retrieved: 13 January 2011.

Operational history

Flown by Roland Rholfs, the 18T achieved a world speed record of in August 1918 carrying a full military load of . The Model 18T-2 was an improved version of its predecessor, with 50 additional horsepower. The wings of the new model were swept back. It was also longer with a larger two-bay wing, though its operational ceiling was lower. After World War I, it was employed as a racing plane: an 18T-2 nearly won the

Curtiss Marine Trophy Race Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company (1909 – 1929) was an American aircraft manufacturer originally founded by Glenn Hammond Curtiss and Augustus Moore Herring in Hammondsport, New York. After significant commercial success in its first decades ...

in 1922 (limited to U.S. Navy pilots), but the pilot, Lt. Sanderson ran out of

fuel A fuel is any material that can be made to react with other substances so that it releases energy as thermal energy or to be used for work. The concept was originally applied solely to those materials capable of releasing chemical energy but ...

just before the finish line. Curtiss Engineering followed the Model 18T with the Model 18B, unofficially known as the "Hornet", built to otherwise similar specifications. Curtiss 18T-1

Rear view of man in a Curtiss biplane 18-B cockpit on field, circa 1917-1919 (TRANSPORT 1105)

Variants

;Model 18T or 18T-1: Two-seat fighter triplane with single-bay wings, powered by a Curtiss K-12 piston engine. Referred to by the US Navy as the "Kirkham". Originally designated 18T, the type was redesignated the 18T-1 when the prototype was modified to a new configuration designated 18T-2 (see below). ;Model 18T-2: 18T with longer-span two-bay wings. Could be fitted with floatplane or landplane landing gear. ;Model 18B: Biplane fighter version, known unofficially as the "Hornet". Sole flying prototype of Curtiss 18B, USAAS ''40058'', 'P-86', crashed early in flight trials at McCook Field, Dayton, Ohio, summer 1919. Type not ordered into production. One non-flying prototype also delivered for static testing.Green, William, and Swanborough, Gordon, "Fighter A To Z", ''Air International'', Bromley, Kent, UK, February 1976, Volume 10, Number 2, page 98.

Operators

; * United States Navy

Specifications (18T-1 Wasp)

Notes

Bibliography

* Angelucci, Enzo and Peter Bowers. ''The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft from 1917 to the Present''. New York: Orion Books, 1985. . * Bowers, Peter M. ''Curtiss Aircraft 1907–1947''. London: Putnam, 1979. .
"The Curtiss Model 18-T Triplane."
'' Flight'', Volume XI, Issue 22, No. 544, 29 May 1919, pp. 698–700.
"The Curtiss Model 18-B Biplane."
Volume XI, Issue 28, No. 550, 10 July 1919, pp. 902–904. * Green, William and Gordon Swanborough. ''The Complete Book of Fighters.'' New York: Salamander, 1994. . *

External links

{{Curtiss aircraft 1910s United States fighter aircraft 18 Triplanes Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1918