Curtiss Model H

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The Curtiss Model H was a family of classes of early long-range [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], the first two of which were developed directly on commission in the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] in response to the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] issued in 1913 by the London newspaper, the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], for the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

As the first aircraft having trans-Atlantic range and cargo-carrying capacity, it became the grandfather development leading to early international commercial air travel, and by extension, to the modern world of commercial aviation.


The last widely produced class, the Model H-12, was retrospectively designated Model 6 by Curtiss' company in the 1930s, and various classes have variants with suffixed letters indicating differences.

Design and development

Having transatlantic range and cargo carrying capacity by design, the first H-2 class (soon dubbed "The Americans" by the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]) was quickly drafted into wartime use as a patrol and rescue aircraft by the RNAS, the air arm of the British Royal Navy.

The original two "contest" aircraft were in fact temporarily seized by the Royal Navy, which later paid for them and placed an initial follow-on order for an additional 12 — all 14 of which were militarized (e.g. by adding gun mounts) and designated the "H-4" (the two originals were thereafter the "H-2" Models to air historians).

These changes were produced under contract from Curtiss' factory in the last order of 50 "H-4s", giving a class total of 64, before the evolution of a succession of larger, more adaptable, and more robust H-class models.

H-4 America

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This article covers the whole line of nearly 500 Curtiss Model H [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] aircraft known to have been produced, since successive models - by whatever sub-model designation - were physically similar, handled similarly, essentially just being increased in size and fitted with larger and improved engines — the advances in [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] technology in the 1910s being as rapid and explosive as any technological advance has ever been.


When London's [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] newspaper in 1913 put up a [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] for the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], American businessman [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] became determined that the prize should go to an American aircraft and commissioned the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] to design and build two aircraft capable of making the flight.

The Mail's offer of a large monetary prize for "an aircraft with transoceanic range" (in an era with virtually no airports) galvanized air enthusiasts world wide, and, in America, prompted a collaboration between the American and British air pioneers: [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], spurred financially by the nationalistically motivated financing of air enthusiast [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].


The class, while commissioned by Wanamaker, was actually a scaled-up version of Curtiss' work for the United States Navy and his [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].


With [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] Lt-Cdr Cyril Porte as Chief Test Pilot, development and testing of the two prototypes proceeded rapidly, despite the inevitable surprises and teething troubles inherent in new engines, hull and fuselage.


Both prototypes, once fitted with [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], were then called Model H-2s and were incrementally updated alternating in succession, and were successfully fully tested by the late summer of 1914, when they were shipped to England.


At this time they were scheduled for a transatlantic flight in August 1914, attempting to cross the North [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] by air — a trial canceled because of the outbreak of [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

The resulting Model H was a conventional [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] design with two-bay, unstaggered wings of unequal span with two tractor [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] mounted side-by-side above the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] in the interplane gap.

Wingtip pontoons were attached directly below the lower wings near their tips.

The Model H resembled Curtiss' earlier flying boat designs but was considerably larger in order to carry enough fuel to cover 1,100 mi (1,770 km).

The three crew members were accommodated in a fully-enclosed cabin.

Christened America, trials of the first Model H began in June 1914 and revealed a serious shortcoming in the design: the tendency for the nose of the aircraft to try to submerge as engine power increased while [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] on water.

This phenomenon had not been encountered before, since Curtiss' earlier designs had not used such powerful engines.


In order to counteract this effect, Curtiss fitted fins to the sides of the bow to add hydrodynamic lift, but soon replaced these with [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] to add more buoyancy.

These sponsons would remain a prominent feature of flying boat hull design in the decades to follow.


With the problem resolved, preparations for the crossing resumed, and 5 August 1914 was selected as the date.

These plans were interrupted by the outbreak of war, which also saw Porte, who had been selected to pilot the America, recalled to service with the British [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

Impressed by the capabilities he had witnessed, Porte urged the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] to commandeer (and later, purchase) the America and her sister from Curtiss.

This was followed by a decision to order a further 12 similar aircraft, one Model H-2 and the remaining as Model H-4s, four examples of the latter actually being assembled in the UK by [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

All of these were essentially identical to the design of the America, and indeed, were all referred to as "Americas" in Royal Navy service.

This initial batch was followed by an order for another 50.

These aircraft were soon of great interest to the British [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] as anti-submarine patrol craft and for air-sea rescue roles.

The initial Royal Navy purchase of just two aircraft eventually spawned a fleet of aircraft which saw extensive military service during World War I in these roles, being extensively developed in the process (together with many spinoff or offspring variants) under the compressed research and development cycles available in wartime.


Consequently, as the war progressed, the Model H was developed into progressively larger variants, and it served as the basis for parallel developments in the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] under Cyril Porte which led to the "Felixstowe" series of flying boats with their better hydrodynamic hull forms, beginning with the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] — a hull form which thereafter became the standard in seaplanes of all kinds, just as sponsons did for flying boats.

Curtiss next developed an enlarged version of the same design, designated the Model H-8, with accommodation for four crew members.

A [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] was constructed and offered to the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], but was ultimately also purchased by the British Admiralty.

This aircraft would serve as the pattern for the Model H-12, used extensively by both the Royal Navy and the United States Navy.

Upon their adoption into service by the RNAS, they became known as Large Americas, with the H-4s receiving the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] Small America.

As built, the Model H-12s had 160 hp (118 kW) [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] engines, but with these engines they were underpowered, so in [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] (RNAS) service they were re-engined with the 275 hp (205 kW) [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] I and then the 375 hp (280 kW) Eagle VIII.


^{[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]} Porte redesigned the H-12 with an improved hull; this design, the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], was produced and entered service.


Some of the H-12s were later rebuilt with a hull similar to the F.2, these rebuilds being known as the Converted Large America.

Later aircraft for the U.S. Navy received the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] (designated Curtiss H-12L).^{[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]}

Curiously, the Curtiss company designation Model H-14 was applied to a completely unrelated design (see [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]), but the Model H-16, introduced in 1917, represented the final step in the evolution of the Model H design


^{[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]} With longer-span wings, and a reinforced hull similar to the Felixstowe flying boats, the H-16s were powered by Liberty engines in U.S. Navy service and by Eagle IVs for the Royal Navy.

These aircraft remained in service through the end of World War I and remained in U.S. Navy service for some years after the war, most receiving engine upgrades to more powerful Liberty variants.

H-16s à Pensacola

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Operational history

With the RNAS, H-12s and H-16s operated from flying boat stations on the coast in long-range anti-[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and anti-[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] patrols over the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

A total of 71 H-12s and 75 H-16s were received by the RNAS, commencing patrols in April 1917, with 18 H-12s and 30 H-16s remaining in service in October 1918[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]