The Curtiss XP-10 was an American experimental

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a ...

fighter developed by

Curtiss Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company (1909 – 1929) was an American aircraft manufacturer originally founded by Glenn Hammond Curtiss and Augustus Moore Herring in Hammondsport, New York. After significant commercial success in its first decad ...

and tested by the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical r ...

, but rejected due to disappointing performance and major problems with the cooling system.

Design and development

Ordered on 18 June 1928, it was intended to be fast and maneuverable enough to win a dogfight. The XP-10 used a gull wing top wing, joined at the fuselage; this offered much better pilot visibility than the traditional biplane configuration. Coincidentally, this also permitted the wing and fuselage to meet at the optimum angle for minimizing drag.Green 1973, p. 188. The wings were

plywood Plywood is a material manufactured from thin layers or "plies" of wood veneer that are glued together with adjacent layers having their wood grain rotated up to 90 degrees to one another. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured ...

-covered (rather than doped

fabric Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not ...

, as used in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

), and the fuselage was fabric-covered steel tubing. The XP-10 used a 600 hp (447 kW) Curtiss V-1570-15 Conqueror

water-cooled Cooling tower and water discharge of a nuclear power plant Water cooling is a method of heat removal from components and industrial equipment. Evaporative cooling using water is often more efficient than air cooling. Water is inexpensive and n ...

V12 engine. To overcome the drag of a radiator (a quite serious issue before the introduction of

ethylene glycol Ethylene glycol ( IUPAC name: ethane-1,2-diol) is an organic compound (a vicinal diol) with the formula . It is mainly used for two purposes, as a raw material in the manufacture of polyester fibers and for antifreeze formulations. It is an o ...

), Curtiss incorporated it into the upper wing. It was formed of corrugated brass sheets through which cooling water was run. While ingenious, this introduced technical and mechanical problems, especially vulnerability to enemy fire in a combat aircraft.

Operational history

Delivered to the Army Air Corps in August 1928, the XP-10 first flew in September. Despite excellent manoeuvrability, with the XP-10 proving superior to the Curtiss Hawk in testing, persistent problems with cooling and the plumbing of the surface radiator led to the XP-10 being abandoned. Curtiss XP-10 rear

Operators

; *

Specifications (XP-10)

References

Bibliography

* Dorr, Robert F. and David Donald. ''Fighters of the United States Air Force''. London: Temple, 1990. . * Green, William. ''War Planes of the Second World War, Fighters.'' Volume Four. Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, 1973. * Jones, Lloyd S. ''U.S. Fighters: 1925-1980s''. Fallbrook, California: Aero Publishers, Inc., 1975. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Curtiss Xp-10 P-10 Curtiss P-10 Single-engined tractor aircraft Biplanes Aircraft first flown in 1928