1912 CURTISS MODEL D (Representation)
The Curtiss Model D pusher was a stock model which could be bought with one of several Curtiss engines; 40, 60 or 75 horsepower. The Model D was the basis for one of Curtiss's most famous achievements - the first amphibian airplane capable of landing on and taking off from land or water. The Model D was the first airplane to takeoff from (November 1910) and land on (January 1911) an anchored ship. Used as an observation plane for the United States Signal Corps, the Model D was one of the first aircraft to utilize ailerons for banking and turning instead of wing warping. Our replica was built in 1961 in Sacramento, CA by Carl Mueller, who once worked for Curtiss at the US Navy Flying School in San Diego. It was acquired from Jack Gardiner in 1975. One note of significance in relation to the Curtiss airplanes is that Lincoln Beachy was the first pilot in the United States to perform an inside loop, on November 25, 1913 in a Curtis Special Looper. The first inside loop was performed by Petr Nesterov, a Russian Army officer, on September 9, 1913.
Specifications: span 27 ft. 9 in.; length 20 ft. 7 in.; takeoff weight 968 lbs.; engine 90 hp. Curtiss OX-5 water-cooled V-8 (original); 145 hp Continental air-cooled flat four (representation); cruising speed 58 mph.
Accession no. 1975G06.
Return to select another aircraft
Return to Collections Home Page