The Curtiss-Wright CW-22 was a 1940s American general-purpose advanced

training Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or fitness that relate to specific useful competencies. Training has specific goals of improving one's capability, capacity, productivity and performance. I ...

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

aircraft built by the

Curtiss-Wright Corporation The Curtiss-Wright Corporation is a manufacturer and services provider headquartered in Davidson, North Carolina, with factories and operations in and outside the United States. Created in 1929 from the consolidation of Curtiss, Wright, and v ...

. It was operated by 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 ...

as a scout trainer with the designation SNC-1 Falcon.

Design and development

Developed at the Curtiss-Wright

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

factory, the CW-22 was developed from the CW-19 via the single-seat CW-21 light fighter-

interceptor Interceptor may refer to: Vehicles * Interceptor aircraft (or simply "interceptor"), a type of point defense fighter aircraft designed specifically to intercept and destroy enemy aircraft * Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, a police car * ...

. The prototype 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 Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft Landing gear, undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the Center of gravity of an aircraft, center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail ...

, with the main gear retracting rearward into underwing fairings. The CW-22 was seen as either a civilian

sport Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

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 The National Naval Aviation Museum, formerly known as the National Museum of Naval Aviation and the Naval Aviation Museum, is a military and aerospace museum located at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida. Founded in 1962 and moved to its curr ...

, at

NAS Pensacola Naval Air Station Pensacola or NAS Pensacola (formerly NAS/KNAS until changed circa 1970 to allow Nassau International Airport, now Lynden Pindling International Airport, to have IATA code NAS), "The Cradle of Naval Aviation", is a United State ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Operational history

The main customer for the aircraft equipped with the Wright R-975 Whirlwind

air-cooled Air-cooled engines rely on the circulation of air directly over heat dissipation fins or hot areas of the engine to cool them in order to keep the engine within operating temperatures. In all combustion engines, a great percentage of the heat ge ...

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is ...

was the

Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force ( nl, Militaire Luchtvaart van het Koninklijk Nederlands-Indisch Leger, ML-KNIL) was the air arm of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) from 1939 until ...

and 36 were exported. The aircraft had to be delivered to the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

in Australia due to the advancing Japanese forces. A developed version, the CW-22B, was sold to

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

(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 Imperial Japanese Army Air Service (IJAAS) or Imperial Japanese Army Air Force (IJAAF; ja, 大日本帝國陸軍航空部隊, Dainippon Teikoku Rikugun Kōkūbutai, lit=Greater Japan Empire Army Air Corps) was the aviation force of the Im ...

. 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

, 36 built. ;CW-22B :Improved armed variant, approx 100 built. ;SNC-1 Falcon (CW-22N) :

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

operated captured ex-Dutch aircraft. ; ; *

Turkish Air Force The Turkish Air Force ( tr, ) is the aerial warfare service branch of the Turkish Armed Forces. The Turkish Air Force can trace its origins back to June 1911 when it was founded by the Ottoman Empire, however, the air force as it is known to ...

; * The

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

in India operated the former Burma Volunteer Air Force aircraft ; *

; *

Uruguayan Air Force The Uruguayan Air Force ( es, Fuerza Aérea Uruguaya, abbreviated FAU) is the air service branch of the Armed Forces of Uruguay. Originally created as part of the National Army of Uruguay, the Air Force was established as a separate branch on Dec ...

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 in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

. ;United States * c/n 3707 – CW-22 in storage at the

Fantasy of Flight Fantasy of Flight is an aviation museum in Polk City, Florida. It opened in November 1995, to house Kermit Weeks' collection of aircraft that, until Hurricane Andrew damaged many in 1992, were housed at the Weeks Air Museum in Tamiami, Florid ...

Polk City, Florida Polk City is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. The population was 1,562 at the 2010 census. As of 2018, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 2,422. It is part of the Lakeland– Winter Haven Metropolitan Statistic ...

. * BuNo 05194 – SNC-1 on static display at the

National Naval Aviation Museum The National Naval Aviation Museum, formerly known as the National Museum of Naval Aviation and the Naval Aviation Museum, is a military and aerospace museum located at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida. Founded in 1962 and moved to its cur ...

in Pensacola, Florida. ;Uruguay * SNC-1 on display at the Colonel Jaime Meregalli Aeronautical Museum in Ciudad de la Costa, Canelones.

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