Curtiss No. 1
| No. 1 / Gold Bug / Golden Flyer | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Role | Pioneer Era aircraft |
| Manufacturer | Herring-Curtiss Company |
| Designer | Glenn Curtiss |
| First flight | 1909 |
| Retired | 1909 |
| Number built | 1 |
|
| |
The Curtiss No. 1 also known as the Curtiss Gold Bug or Curtiss Golden Flyer was a 1900s American early experimental aircraft, the first independent aircraft designed and built by Glenn Curtiss.
Development
After his success with designing aircraft for the Aerial Experiment Association, Glenn Curtiss formed his own company, the Herring-Curtiss Company, in March 1909, in association with Augustus Herring. Earlier in the same month, the Aeronautical Society of New York had placed an order from Curtiss for a new aircraft. The Curtiss No. 1 was the first aircraft both designed and built by Curtiss. Curtiss flew the aircraft to win the Scientific American trophy (which he had won before in the AEA June Bug that he had designed). Encouraged by this success, Curtiss entered the aircraft into the first international air show to be held at Reims in France in August 1909. Before the international competition, the aircraft crashed and was badly damaged;[1] Curtiss decided not to rebuild the aircraft and built a new aircraft, the Curtiss Reims Racer for the competition.
Specifications
Data from The Pictorial History of American Aircraft
General characteristics
- Crew: One
- Length: 33 ft 6 in (10.2 m)
- Wingspan: 28 ft 9 in (8.8 m)
- Gross weight: 550 lb (250 kg)
- Powerplant: 1 × 4-cylinder Curtiss engine, 25 hp (19 kW)
Performance
- Cruise speed: 54 mph (86.9 km/h)
See also
References
Notes
- ↑ The Curtiss Aircraft DamagedFlight International 24 July 1909
Further reading
- The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985), Orbis Publishing 1985
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Curtiss No.1. |