Curtiss Model R

Model R
Type	Military utility aircraft
Manufacturer
Designed by	Curtiss
Maiden flight	1915
Primary user	United States Army, United States Navy
Number built	ca. 290

The Curtiss Model R was a utility aircraft produced for the United States Army and Navy during World War I. 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 engines. 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.

Variants

• Model R - prototype
• Model R-2 - initial production version for Army (12 built)
• Model R-3 - floatplane version for Navy
• Model R-4 - air ambulance version of R-2 for Army (55 built)
  • Model R-4L - Model R-4s refitted with Liberty L-12
    • Model R-4LM - Model R-4Ls with engine derated from 400 hp to 360 hp (300 kW to 270 kW)
• Model R-6 - torpedo-bomber floatplane for Navy (96 built)
  • Model R-6L - Model R-6 with Liberty L-12 engine (122 built, plus 40 converted)
• Model R-7 - Model R-6 with extended wingspan (1 built)
• Model R-9 - Model R-3s refitted with wheeled undercarriage for Army

References

• Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions, 285. 
• aerofiles.com

See also

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Curtiss Model R".