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Curtiss R3C
Curtiss Racer NASA GPN-2000-001310
Curtiss R3C-2
Role racer
Manufacturer Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company
First flight 18 September 1925
Introduction 1925
Primary users US Navy
US Army
Number built 3
Developed from Curtiss R2C

The Curtiss R3C was an American racing aircraft built in landplane and floatplane form. It was a single-seat biplane built by the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company.

The R3C-1[1] was the landplane version and Cyrus Bettis won the Pulitzer Trophy Race in one on 12 October 1925 with a speed of 248.9 mph (406.5 km/h).

The R3C-2 was a twin float seaplane built for the Schneider Trophy race. In 1925, it took place at Chesapeake Bay in Baltimore, Maryland. With 232.57 mph (374.274 km/h), pilot Jimmy Doolittle won the trophy with a Curtiss R3C-2. The other two R3C-2s, piloted by George Cuddihy and Ralph Oftsie, did not reach the finish line. The next day, with the same plane on a straight course, Doolittle reached 245.7 mph (395.4 km/h), a new world record. For the next Schneider Trophy, which took place on 13 November 1926, the R3C-2's engine was further improved, and pilot Christian Franck Schilt won second place with 231.364 mph (372.34 km/h).

Operators[]

Curtiss R3C-2 A6979 3 USAFM 22.04

Surviving R3C-2 is displayed at the NASM near Washington

United States

Survivors[]

The R3C-2 that Jimmy Doolitle piloted to victory in the 1925 Schneider Trophy race is preserved at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Centre, at Washington Dulles Airport, Virginia. It still wears its '3' 1925 racing number.

Specifications (R3C-2)[]

Curtiss R3C-2 at Naval Aircraft Factory 1926

An R3C-2 at the Naval Aircraft Factory in 1926.

Data from Curtiss Aircraft 1907–1947[2]

General characteristics

  • Crew: one
  • Length: 22 ft (6.71 m)
  • Wingspan: 22.0 ft (6.71 m)
  • Height: 10 ft 4 in (3.14 m)
  • Wing area: 144 sq ft (13.4m²)
  • Airfoil: Curtiss C-80
  • Empty weight: 2,135 lb (968 kg)
  • Max. takeoff weight: 2,738 lb (1,242 kg)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Curtiss V-1400, 565 hp (421 kW)

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 245 mph (213 knots, 394 km/h)
  • Range: 290 mi (252 nmi, 467 km)

See also[]

In culture[]

  • A Curtiss R3C appears in Hayao Miyazaki's Porco Rosso animated movie featuring a romanticized interwar aviation. The Curtiss R3C is flown by a pilot himself named Curtiss. The dialogues also reference the 1925 Schneider Trophy.

References[]

  1. Also given the "paper" designation F3C as fighters in the US Navy designation system: Swanborough and Bowers 1976, p.127.
  2. Bowers 1979, p.237

External links[]

All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
The original article can be found at Curtiss R3C and the edit history here.
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