Curtiss NC
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The Curtiss NC (Curtiss Navy Curtiss, nicknamed "Nancy boat" or "Nancy") is a
flying boat A flying boat is a type of seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in having a fuselage that is purpose-designed for flotation, while floatplanes rely on fuselage-mounted floats for buoyancy. Though ...
built by
Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company The Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company (1909–1929) was an American aircraft manufacturer originally founded by Glenn Curtiss, Glenn Hammond Curtiss and Augustus Moore Herring in Hammondsport, New York. After significant commercial success in ...
and used by the
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
from 1918 through the early 1920s. Ten of these aircraft were built, the most famous of which is the NC-4, the first airplane to make a
transatlantic flight A transatlantic flight is the flight of an aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean from Europe, Africa, South Asia, or the Middle East to North America, South America, or ''vice versa''. Such flights have been made by fixed-wing aircraft, airships, bal ...
. The NC-4 is preserved in the National Museum of Naval Aviation, at
NAS Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air (S ...
Pensacola, Florida Pensacola ( ) is a city in the Florida panhandle in the United States. It is the county seat and only incorporated city, city in Escambia County, Florida, Escambia County. The population was 54,312 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...
.


Development

Manufacture of the "NC"s began in 1918 during
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
."Chapter II - A Boat With Wings, p. 24."
''The Flight Across the Atlantic.'' Hammpondsport, New York: Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Corporation, 1919.
The U.S. Navy wished for an aircraft capable of long ocean flights, both for
anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in the older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations ar ...
patrol, and if possible with capability to fly across the
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...
under their own power to avoid having to be shipped through ocean waters menaced by
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submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...
s. This was a very ambitious undertaking, given the state of
aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as h ...
at the time. The Navy and Curtiss came up with one of the largest
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 ...
designs yet produced, equipped with sleeping quarters and a
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transmitter/receiver. It was originally powered by three V12
Liberty engine The Liberty L-12 is an American water-cooled 45° V-12 engine, displacing and making , designed for a high power-to-weight ratio and ease of mass production. It was designed principally as an aircraft engine and saw wide use in aero applicat ...
s, of 400 hp (298 kW) each; during the testing phase
Marc Mitscher Marc Andrew "Pete" Mitscher (January 26, 1887 – February 3, 1947) was a pioneer in naval aviation who became an admiral in the United States Navy, and served as commander of the Fast Carrier Task Force in the Pacific during World War II. E ...
recommended the addition of a fourth engine to help create enough power to lift the boats out of the water. The fourth engine was added to the midline in a
pusher configuration In aeronautical and naval engineering, pusher configuration is the term used to describe a drivetrain of air- or watercraft with propulsion device(s) after the engine(s). This is in contrast to the more conventional tractor configuration, wh ...
.Taylor 1954, p. 56. The maximum speed was 90 mph (144 km/h) and the estimated maximum range was 1,500 mi (2,400 km). Called NC boats, with the "N" for Navy and "C" for the builder Curtiss, they were nicknamed "Nancys".


NC-1 and NC-2 engine nacelle arrangements

As originally completed the NC-1 had three tractor engines in nacelles located midway between the mainplanes, the centre nacelle housing the cockpit for two pilots. Due to a lack of power the centre nacelle was raised, elongated forwards and a pusher engine added. With this engine arrangement the pilots cockpit was moved to the hull in a more conventional position. NC-2 differed in having the centre engine, of its complement of three, fitted as a pusher, retaining the pilots cockpit in the centre nacelle. Also suffering from a lack of power, the NC-2 was modified with four engines in tandem outer nacelles, (due to the outer nacelles being built closer to the centre nacelle, the three tractor/one pusher arrangement was impractical). Initially the centre cockpit nacelle was retained but this was soon removed and a similar conventional cockpit to NC-1 was added. NC-3 onwards continued with the later NC-1 arrangement of 3x tractor/1x pusher engines and conventional cockpit in the hull.


Operational history

On 4 October 1918, the first of these aircraft, the NC-1, made its first test flight with the early three-engine configuration. On 25 November, it flew again, with a
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51 people on board.
Armistice Day Armistice Day, later known as Remembrance Day in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth and Veterans Day in the United States, is commemorated every year on 11 November to mark Armistice of 11 November 1918, the armistice signed between th ...
, signaling the end of the war in Europe, came before testing of the first NC and construction of the other three of the Navy's initial order had been completed. The NC-2 suffered damage during the testing phase and was cannibalized for spare parts. The other three NCs, NC-1, NC-3, and NC-4, set out on what was intended as the first demonstration of transatlantic flight, via
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and the
Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...
, on 8 May 1919. As junior officer, Mitscher, who had been allotted to one of the commands, lost his command when NC-2 had to be broken up for parts. He went on the flight as one of the pilots of the NC-1. The group met heavy fog off the
Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...
, making flight in the crudely instrumented aircraft extremely dangerous. Without a visible horizon it was extremely difficult to keep the aircraft in level flight. NC-1 tried different altitudes and soldiered on for several hours before eventually putting down just short of the Azores and was damaged beyond repair in the rough seas.Taylor 1954, p. 65. Only the NC-4 made it through. The crew of NC-1 was rescued at sea. Attempts to tow the aircraft to the Azores failed. NC-3 was forced to land some 205 mi (330 km) distance from the Azores, but the crew, led by
Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...
John Henry Towers John Henry Towers CBE (January 30, 1885 – April 30, 1955) was a highly decorated United States Navy four-star Admiral (United States), admiral and pioneer naval aviator. He made important contributions to the technical and organizational develo ...
, managed to sail her to
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unaided. The Navy had two more sets of NCs constructed, numbered NC-5 to NC-8, and NC-9 and NC-10, up to 1921.


Operators

; *
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...


Specifications (NC-4)


See also


References


Citations


Bibliography

* * * Steirman, Hy and Glenn D. Kittler. ''The First Transatlantic Flight, 1919,'' (originally ''Triumph''). New York: Richardson & Sterman, 1986, first edition 1961. . * Taylor, Theodore. ''The Magnificent Mitscher.'' Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1954. . * Wagner, Ray. ''American Combat Planes''. New York: Doubleday, 1982, . * Contemporary technical description of the NC-1 in its original three-engine configuration, with photographs and drawings. {{USN patrol aircraft NC Four-engined push-pull aircraft Flying boats 1910s United States patrol aircraft Biplanes Aircraft first flown in 1918