The Thomas-Morse TM-24 was a prototype

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 ...

two-seat observation aircraft of the 1920s. A single example was built in 1925, but no production followed.

Design and development

Thomas-Morse Aircraft The Thomas-Morse Aircraft Corporation was an American aircraft manufacturer, until it was taken over by the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation in 1929. History Founded in 1910 by English immigrants William T. Thomas and his brother Oliver W. T ...

had decided to specialize in all-metal aircraft after it lost an order for 200 MB-3 fighters to

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...

, who had offered a much lower bid.Wegg 1990, p. 13. Thomas Morse's chief designer, B. Douglas Thomas produced a series of all-metal aircraft, flying the unsuccessful MB-9 fighter and MB-10 trainer in 1921, and selling two R-5 racing aircraft to the

United States 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 war ...

in 1922.Wegg 1990, p. 27. In 1924, Thomas-Morse flew the TM-23, a single-seat

biplane 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 ...

fighter, which was again a failure. Despite undergoing major redesign in an attempt to improve performance and handling it failed to obtain any orders.Wegg 1990, pp. 27–28. In 1924, Thomas designed a single-engined two-seat observation aircraft, the TM-24, in a further attempt to find success with all-metal construction. In an attempt to improve maneuverability, the TM-24 had a short fuselage, with the aircraft being little longer than the single-seat TM-23. Like the TM-23, the TM-24's fuselage was covered in corrugated aluminum skin. The crew of two sat in separate tandem cockpits. The upper wing was much smaller than the lower wing, having a wingspan 5 feet shorter. The wings were braced by a single "N"- strut and an inverted "V"-strut on each side. Additional auxiliary tail surfaces were mounted on the aircraft's fin, above the main

tailplane A tailplane, also known as a horizontal stabiliser, is a small lifting surface located on the tail (empennage) behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other non-fixed-wing aircraft such as helicopters and gyroplane ...

, which acted as trim tabs. The aircraft was powered by a Curtiss D12 water-cooled

V12 engine A V12 engine is a twelve-cylinder piston engine where two banks of six cylinders are arranged in a V configuration around a common crankshaft. V12 engines are more common than V10 engines. However, they are less common than V8 engines. The fi ...

driving a two-bladed propeller and cooled by radiators located in fairings in the lower wing-roots.Bowers 1971, pp. 48–49.Wagner, Ray
"Army Pursuits the Biplane Period, 1920-1932: Boeing XPW-8, XPW-9, PW-9, PW-9C, & TM-24, 24"
''American Combat Planes of the 20th Century''. 2010. Retrieved 21 April 2013. The TM-24 flew in early 1925. It was delivered to

McCook Field McCook Field was an airfield and aviation experimentation station in Dayton, Ohio, United States. It was operated by the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps and its successor the United States Army Air Service from 1917 to 1927. It was named fo ...

for testing by the Army Air Service in February that year. While testing indicated that performance was good, the aircraft's landing speed was considered too high, and its

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally aircraft, air or watercraft, water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to ...

was masked if the observer stood up in his cockpit to use his machine gun. The TM-24 was also considered frail by the testers. Further development was abandoned and the prototype was dismantled at McCook Field. Thomas-Morse lost $46,000 on the project.

Specifications

References

;Notes ;Bibliography *Angelucci, Enzo and

Peter M. Bowers Peter M. Bowers (May 15, 1918 – April 27, 2003) was an aeronautical engineer, airplane designer, and a journalist and historian specializing in the field of aviation.

. ''The American Fighter''. Yeovil, UK:Haynes Publishing, 1987. . * Bowers, Peter M. ''Forgotten Fighters and Experimental Aircraft''. New York: Arco Publishing, 1971. . *Wegg, John. ''General Dynamics Aircraft and their Predecessors''. London:Putnam, 1990. . {{Thomas-Morse aircraft 1920s United States military reconnaissance aircraft TM-24 Single-engined tractor aircraft Biplanes Aircraft first flown in 1925