Thursday 9 January 2020

Curtiss XF12C-1/Curtiss XS4C-1/Curtiss XSBC-1

The Curtiss XF12C-1 was one of the designs that ended up being the original Curtiss SBC Helldiver. It was based on a US Navy Bureau of Aeronautics for a two-seat fighter which was ordered on 30th June 1932. It was an all-metal parasol monoplane which featured aft-folding wings (feature which, back then, was new for the US Navy as the aircraft was designed with carrier-storage in mind) with leading-edge slats, trailing-edge flaps and manually-operated retractable main undercarriage members.
The prototype flew for the first time in July 1933 and was initially powered by a Wright R-1510-92 radial engine which delivered 625 hp of power and was armed with two 0.3 in Browning machine guns firing forward and another defensive one at the rear mounted on a flexible mount.
By the time the XF12C-1 was tested by the US Navy, in October 1933, the R-150-92 engine was already being rejected for being too unsatisfactory. After testing, the aircraft was discarded for the fighter role, and on 7th December 1933 the only tested prototype was redesigned in the scout category as the XS4C-1 and re-engined with a 700 hp Wright 1820-80 radial engine, which drove a two-bladed propeller. In this new scouting role, it had to carry equipment for a 500 pound (227 kg) bomb, so it was re-labelled in January 1934 as XSBC-1.
In early 1934 flight-testing, specially centred in dive-bombing manoeuvres began and, on 14th June 1934 the aircraft crashed, supposedly due to a wing failure in Lancaster, New York, close to one of Curtiss' plants, during one of the tests and was destroyed.










Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtiss_SBC_Helldiver
2. http://www.aviastar.org/air/usa/curtiss_f12c.php
3. https://www.valka.cz/Curtiss-XF12C-1-t127850
4. Signal Squadron - Aircraft In action 151 - SBC Helldiver in Action

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