Curtiss Model D

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtiss_Model_D

The 1911 Curtiss Model D (or frequently, "Curtiss Pusher") was an early United
States pusher aircraft with the engine and propeller behind the pilot's seat. It
was among the very first aircraft in the world to be built in any quantity — all
of which were produced by Curtiss during an era of trial-and-error development
and equally important parallel technical development in internal combustion
engine technologies.

It was also the aircraft type which made the first takeoff from the deck of a
ship (flown by Eugene B. Ely off the deck of the USS Birmingham on November 14,
1910, near Hampton Roads, Virginia) and made the first landing aboard a ship
(the USS Pennsylvania) on January 18, 1911, near San Francisco, California.

It was originally fitted with a foreplane for pitch control, but this was
dispensed with when it was accidentally discovered to be unnecessary. The new
version without the foreplane was known as the Headless Pusher. Like all Curtiss
designs, the aircraft used ailerons instead, which first existed on a
Curtiss-designed airframe as quadruple "wing-tip" ailerons on the 1908 June Bug
to control rolling in flight, thus avoiding use of the Wright brothers' patented
wing warping technology.

Role

Manufacturer
Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company

Introduction
1911

Status
historic

Primary user
Exhibition pilots, aeronautical experimenters
United States Navy
Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps

The Model D was a biplane fitted with a wheeled tricycle undercarriage. The
construction was primarily of spruce, with ash used in parts of the engine
bearers and undercarriage beams, with doped linen stretched over it. The
outrigger beams were made of bamboo. Prevented by patents from using the Wright
Brothers' wing warping technique to provide lateral control, and with neither
the Wrights nor himself likely to have known about its prior patenting in 1868
England, Curtiss did not use the June Bug's "wing-tip" aileron configuration,
but instead used between-the-wing-panels "inter-plane" ailerons, instead, as
directly derived from his earlier Curtiss No. 1 and Curtiss No. 2 pushers. In
the end, this proved to be a superior solution. Both the interplane and
trailing-edge ailerons on these early aircraft did not use a hand or
foot-operated mechanism to operate them, but very much like the earlier
Santos-Dumont 14-bis had adopted in November of 1906, required the pilot to
"lean-into" the turn to operate the ailerons — on the Curtiss pushers, a
transverse-rocking, metal framework "shoulder cradle", hinged longitudinally on
either side of the pilot's seat, achieved the connection between the pilot and
aileron control cabling.

Almost all Model Ds were constructed with a pusher configuration, with the
propeller behind the pilot. Because of this configuration, they were often
referred to as the "Curtiss Pusher". Early examples were built in a canard
configuration, with elevators mounted on struts at the front of the aircraft in
addition to a horizontal stabilizer at the rear. Later, the elevators were
incorporated into the tail unit, and the canard surface arrangement dispensed
with, resulting in what became called the Curtiss "Headless" Pushers.

In addition to amateur aviators, a Model D was purchased in April 1911 by the
Aeronautical Division of the U.S. Army Signal Corps as a trainer (S.C. No. 2),
and by the Navy as an airborne observation platform. A number of them were
exported to foreign militaries, as well, including the Russian Navy. On November
14, 1910, Eugene Ely took off from the USS Birmingham in a Model D. This was the
first time an aircraft had taken off from a ship. On January 18, 1911, Ely
landed a Model D aboard the USS Pennsylvania. This was the first aircraft to
land on a ship.

Variants

Model D-4 with one 40 hp (30 kW) Curtiss four-cylinder inline engine

Model D-8 Signal Corps Number 2, one 40 hp (30 kW) Curtiss Vee engine, top speed
of 60 mph (97 km/h) at sea level

Model D-8-75 with one 75 hp (56 kW) Curtiss eight-cylinder Vee engine

Burgess Model D single prototype built under licence by Burgess Company of
Marblehead, Massachusetts

Specifications (Model D Type IV)

General characteristics
Crew: one, pilot
Capacity: one passenger
Length: 29 ft 3 in (8.92 m)
Wingspan: 38 ft 3 in (11.66 m)
Height: 7 ft 10 in (2.39 m)
Empty weight: 700 lb (318 kg)
Loaded weight: 1,300 lb (590 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Curtiss E-4, 40 hp (30 kW)

Performance
Maximum speed: 50 mph (43 kn, 80 km/h)
Endurance: 2.5 hours





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