__NOTOC__ The Curtiss Model R was a utility aircraft produced for the United States Army and Navy 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 ...

. It was a conventional, two-bay biplane with slightly staggered wings of unequal span. The aircraft was provided with two open cockpits in tandem and fixed tailskid undercarriage, but many were built for the Navy with twin floats replacing the wheels. During the course of the war, Model Rs were used for general liaison and communication duties, as well for observation, training, and as air ambulances. In practice, the Curtiss powerplants supplied with these aircraft proved insufficient and were mostly replaced with

Liberty engine The Liberty L-12 is an American water-cooled 45° V-12 aircraft engine displacing and making designed for a high power-to-weight ratio and ease of mass production. It saw wide use in aero applications, and, once marinized, in marine use both i ...

s. The Navy's Model R-3 floatplane had extended-span, three-bay wings, and was intended for use as a torpedo bomber. Some of these were later fitted with wheeled undercarriage and transferred to the Army as bombers under the designation Model R-9.

Operators

; *

Royal Navy Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps t ...

; *

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 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 ...

Variants

Curtiss R-9L on hoist of seplane tender c1920

;Model R :Prototype with highly-staggered, equal-span wings and with single long cockpit for pilot and observer. Powered by 160 hp (119 kW)

Curtiss V-X 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 ...

engine.Bowers 1979, pp. 120–121. ;Model R-2 :Initial production version, fitted with uneven-span staggered wings and individual, widely-separated cockpits for pilot and observer. 12 built for US Army and 100 for

.Bowers 1979, p. 122.Thetford 1978, p. 384. ;Model R-2A :One-off version, with equal-span wings, which broke the American altitude record of 8,105 ft (2740 m) in August 1915. One built. ;Model R-3 :Floatplane version for the US Navy, with increased wingspan (57 ft 1 in) wings. Two built.Bowers 1979, pp. 123–124. ;Model R-4 :Improved version of R-2 for US Army, powered by 200 hp (149 kW)

Curtiss V-2-3 The Curtiss V-2 Type 3 (V-2-3) was a liquid-cooled V8 aircraft engine. Specifications ''Data from:'' Aerofiles Powerplants References {{Curtiss aeroengines V-2 The V-2 (german: Vergeltungswaffe 2, lit=Retaliation Weapon 2), wit ...

engine. At least 55 built.Bowers 1979, p. 124. ;Model R-4L :Model R-4s refitted with

Liberty L-12 The Liberty L-12 is an American water-cooled 45° V-12 aircraft engine displacing and making designed for a high power-to-weight ratio and ease of mass production. It saw wide use in aero applications, and, once marinized Marinisation (also m ...

. Several converted plus 12 new build aircraft. ;Model R-4LM :Conversion of R-4L into

mailplane A mail plane is an aircraft used for carrying mail. Aircraft that were purely mail planes existed almost exclusively prior to World War II. Because early aircraft were too underpowered to carry cargoes, and too costly to run any "economy class" ...

for US Army, with front cockpit converted to mail compartment with capacity for 400 lb (181 kg) of mail.Bowers 1979, pp. 125–126. ;Model R-6: : Two-seat floatplane with long-span wings of R-3 but powered with Curtiss V-2-3 engine. 76 delivered to US Navy plus some floatplanes and landplanes for US Army. Used for torpedo-bomber trials post war.Bowers 1979, p. 126. ;Model R-6L :Model R-6 with 360 hp (269 kW) Liberty L-12 engine.Bowers 1979, p. 128. 40 converted from R-6 plus 122 built new."Curtiss L-Z"
''Aerofiles'', Retrieved 26 May 2011. ;Model R-7 :Long range landplane built for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' for an attempted to fly non-stop from Chicago to New York in 1916. It failed to complete the flight but still set an American distance record of 452 miles (727 km). Fitted with long-span wings as R-3 and R-6 and powered by Curtiss V-2-3 engine. One built.Bowers 1979, pp. 128–129. ;Model R-9 :Two-seat bomber version for the US Navy, similar to R-6, but with crew positions reversed so pilot sat in front cockpit and observer in rear. 112 built for the US Navy, ten of which transferred to US Army.Bowers 1979, p. 129. ;Pusher R :1916 pusher version, based on wings of R, with new fuselage nacelle accommodating two crew. One built.Bowers 1979, p. 130". ;Twin R :One-off experimental twin-engined conversion of R-2.

Specifications (R-2)

References

* * *
aerofiles.com
{{Curtiss aircraft 1910s United States military utility aircraft Model R Single-engined tractor aircraft Biplanes Aircraft first flown in 1915

Operators

Variants

Specifications (R-2)

See also

References