The Boeing F2B was a biplane fighter aircraft of the United States Navy in the 1920s, familiar to aviation enthusiasts of the era as the craft of the Three Sea Hawks aerobatic flying team, famous for its tied-together formation flying.
28-555: Initially the Boeing Model 69 , it was inspired by the results of tests on the FB-6 , which was powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-1340 B Wasp radial engine. Boeing set out to use this engine in a fighter designed specifically for carrier operations, using the same welded-tubing fuselage and wooden-frame wings as for the Model 15, and adding a large spinner to reduce air drag around the engine (this
56-567: A Townend ring cowling worsened the visibility problem, and had only a limited effect on speed. It was also tested with various types of deep-chord NACA cowls. Two of the XP-3A aircraft were re-engined in 1929 and 1930 with the Pratt & Whitney R-985-1 Wasp Junior engine. This aircraft was redesignated the XP-21 . Tests were run with this aircraft, but it was never developed into a production aircraft, despite
84-572: A dawn-to-dusk transcontinental flight across the US. Refueling five times, he landed at Crissy Field , San Francisco, California, at 9:46 p.m., one minute before dusk, covering 2,670 mi (4,297 km) in 20 hours and 48 minutes. His flight time included four planned 30-minute stops at McCook Field , Ohio ; Saint Joseph, Missouri ; Cheyenne, Wyoming ; and Salduro Siding, Utah ; and an unplanned stop in North Platte, Nebraska for additional fuel when
112-624: A muddy field in Missouri did not permit him to take on a full load. He also lost an hour at McCook to repair a broken fuel valve after an over-eager mechanic had over-torqued the valve, damaging it. The original fifteen P-1s served in the 27th and 94th Pursuit Squadrons, 1st Pursuit Group , Selfridge Field , Michigan . The first Hawk to serve with the Air Corps in quantity was the P-1A (17th, 27th, and 94th Pursuit Squadrons) beginning in 1925. In October 1928
140-717: A pursuit aircraft to replace the Thomas-Morse MB-3 A in the United States Army Air Service . Ultimately, both models were accepted; the Curtiss aircraft was designated PW-8 and the Model 15 PW-9 . The Air Service preferred the PW-9, which outperformed the PW-8 in all performance aspects except speed, and was built on a more rugged and easier to maintain design, ordering 113 aircraft (only 25 PW-8s were procured). A naval version
168-588: A row of hooks on the bottom of the axle, used to guide the plane via cables on the deck. The FB-5 first flew October 7, 1926 and was delivered to the Navy beginning in the following January, carried on barges in Puget Sound from Boeing's factory to Langley anchored in Seattle's harbor. Hoisted aboard, their first official flights were from the carrier's deck. Of the 158 aircraft built, 147 were standard production aircraft and
196-406: A straight axle, streamlined into a small 16 in (410 mm) chord wing. The original engine was a 300 hp (220 kW) Wright-Hispano, but when the 435 hp (324 kW) liquid-cooled Curtiss D-12 became available the aircraft was redesigned, moving the radiator from the nose to a "tunnel" under the engine. Along with some other minor design changes to the wings, the design
224-655: Is a United States single-seat open-cockpit biplane fighter aircraft of the 1920s, manufactured by the Boeing company. The Model 15 saw service with the United States Army Air Service (as the PW-9 series) and with the United States Navy as a carrier-based fighter (as the FB series). The design of the Model 15 was based on studies of the Fokker D.VII , of which 142 were brought back to
252-729: The Dawn-to-dusk transcontinental flight across the United States . The prototype of the P-1, the XPW-8B , came about when the Air Service, which had selected the Boeing PW-9 over the PW-8 as its main production fighter, asked Curtiss to modify the last of its three original XPW-8 prototypes with wings resembling those of the PW-9. Curtiss designated the modified aircraft its Model 34A and returned it to
280-491: The Philippines with the 4th Composite Group at Clark Field , Luzon . PW-9s equipped the 3rd, 6th, and 19th Pursuit Squadrons between 1925 and 1931. The FB-1, of which the Navy ordered 16 but received only ten between December 1 and 22, 1924, was not modified for naval operations (for instance, no arresting hook ), and was assigned to Marine Corps squadrons VF-1M , VF-2M , and VF-3M , being deployed to China in support of
308-502: The Air Service for evaluation, from which the service ordered it into production as the P-1 . The first production P-1, serial number 25-410, was delivered on August 17, 1925, and was followed in successive years by the P-1B and P-1C variants with improved engines. The newest P-1 variants remained in operational service until 1930. The March 7, 1925 order for the P-1 also requested five aircraft with
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#1732852802892336-612: The Marine Expeditionary Force. Two additional planes—designated FB-2—were altered to operate on the carrier Langley with the addition of arresting gear and a straight-across axle for the landing gear. These went into service with VF-2 in December 1925. Generally satisfactory results led to an order for 27 FB-5s, which became the Navy's first fighters intended specifically for carrier operation. They were upgraded to 525 hp (391 kW) Packard 2A-1500 engines, and sported
364-662: The Navy was between September 8 and 16, during National Air Races week at Mines Field (now Los Angeles International Airport). The Boeing F2B-1 was unable to fly inverted without the engine quitting; consequently, Lt. Tomlinson modified the carburetors to permit brief inverted flight. At the end of 1929, the Three Sea Hawks team was disbanded when its VB-2B pilots were reassigned. Data from "The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft" General characteristics Performance Armament Related development Related lists Boeing Model 15 The Boeing Model 15
392-549: The U.S. for evaluation as part of the Armistice Agreement ending World War I . Many of the features were similar. The Model 15 had a fuselage of welded steel tubing braced with piano wire, while the tapered single bay wings were fabric on a wooden frame, with spruce and mahogany wing spars and three-ply wood ribs. Wing struts were changed from the normal wood used in Boeing designs to streamlined steel tubes. The landing gear had
420-1241: The designation. Five P-5 Superhawks , similar to the P-1C but with a turbocharged Curtiss D-12F engine, were delivered in 1928. They had a top speed of 166 mph (267 km/h) at 25,000 ft (7,620 m), considerably higher than the maximum ceiling of the P-1A, but their low-level performance was inferior Two single-seat advanced trainer variants were placed into production, the AT-4 and AT-5A , using Wright-Hisso E / Wright-Hisso V-720 V-8 engines. The resulting performance degradation from these lower powered engines resulted in them being deemed dangerous to fly, even for experienced pilots. All were re-engined with Curtiss D-12D engines and returned to use as fighters, designated P-1D and P-1F respectively. Five AT-4/XAT-5 test variants were re-classified as P-1E . A total of 202 PW-8, P-1, P-2, P-3, P-4, P-5, AT-4, and AT-5 airplanes were delivered. On June 23, 1924, taking off at 3:58 A.M., Army test pilot First Lieutenant Russell Maughan left Mitchel Field , New York, in PW-8 24-204, modified with additional fuel and oil tanks, made
448-544: The drag due to the radial engine; entered in the National Air Races of 1929, its speed of 186.84 mph (300.69 km/h) gave it second place in the Thompson Trophy race. The remaining four aircraft were production P-3As , but primarily used to service test the Pratt & Whitney Wasp engine. In addition to the significant increase in drag, the radial engine also interfered with the pilot's view. Addition of
476-635: The existing Army fighter, the Boeing MB-3A . Although the PW-8 was faster than the PW-9 (both having top speeds in excess of 165 mph), it was otherwise outperformed by the Boeing plane, and its surface radiator cooling system, mounted on the upper and lower surfaces of the top wing for streamlining, was more difficult to maintain and vulnerable in combat. However, the Assistant Chief of the Air Service, Brigadier General Billy Mitchell , agreed to purchase 25 PW-8s in return for assistance by Curtiss in making
504-506: The more powerful 500 hp (373 kW) Curtiss V-1400 engine installed. These were completed in January 1926. The first (SN 25-420) was then modified with a turbocharger mounted on the right side of the fuselage nose, and whose turbine was driven by engine exhaust; the craft was designated XP-2 . However, the Curtiss V-1400 engine did not perform up to expectations, with or without
532-472: The other to Japan . In 1927, Lt. D. W. "Tommy" Tomlinson CO of VF-2B, created the first U.S. Naval aerobatic team. Drawing from VB-2B squadron at Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, the team used three Boeing F2B-1 fighters. Its first unofficial demonstration in January 1928 at San Francisco gave rise to a popular nickname: "Suicide Trio" although officially the team was called "Three Sea Hawks". The first public performance as an official team representing
560-535: The remaining were aircraft developed for specific interests. The production runs are shown below with the PW designations for Army aircraft and the FB designations being for the Navy. Data from Boeing Aircraft since 1916 General characteristics Performance Armament Related development Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Curtiss P-1 Hawk The P-1 Hawk ( Curtiss Model 34 )
588-606: The supercharger, and so after a year in service, three of the standard P-2 Hawks had their engines replaced with the Curtiss D-12 and were consequently redesignated as P-1s. The fifth machine (25-243) received a Curtiss V-1570 Conqueror engine and became the XP-6 . 93 production P-1s were brought into service in the P-1, P-1A, P-1B, and P-1C variants. 52 other P-1s, variants P-1D, P-1E, and P-1F, were made by conversion of other Hawk variants, primarily AT-4 and AT-5 trainers. The P-3 Hawk
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#1732852802892616-479: Was a 1920s open- cockpit biplane fighter aircraft of the United States Army Air Corps . An earlier variant of the same aircraft had been designated PW-8 prior to 1925. The Curtiss P-1 Hawk was the first US Army Air Service aircraft to be assigned the "P" (Pursuit) designation which replaced seven designations for pursuit aircraft, including "PW" (for "Pursuit, Water-cooled engine"). The P-1
644-484: Was also developed, designated FB , and 44 aircraft produced. Deliveries of the first 25 PW-9s began on October 30, 1925. Boeing delivered a total of 114 PW-9s of all variants including prototypes to the United States Army Air Corps between 1925 and February 1931. Virtually all PW-9s served with overseas units, in Hawaii with the 5th Composite Group at Luke Field and later the 18th Pursuit Group at Wheeler Field , and in
672-493: Was dropped in production). Armament was either two .30 in (7.62 mm) machine guns , or one .30 in and one .50 in (12.7 mm); the lower wing had attachments for up to four 25 lb (11 kg) bombs, plus a fifth could be hung from the fuselage. First flight of the F2B prototype was November 3, 1926. The Navy acquired the prototype as XF2B-1, which was capable of reaching speeds of 154 mph (248 km/h), and
700-490: Was finalized on January 10, 1922. The Army expressed interest in the new design, and agreed to provide armament, powerplants, and test the aircraft, while leaving Boeing the rights to the aircraft and design. The contract was signed on April 4, 1923 and the first prototype, designated XPW-9 for "Experimental Pursuit, Water-cooled engine", flew on June 2, 1923. The XPW-9 competed with the Curtiss Model 33 for contracts for
728-482: Was similar to the P-1 Hawk but with a radial R-1340-3 Wasp radial engine . The first of the type, designated XP-3A , was the last P-1A (serial 26-300). Originally intended to be powered by a 390 hp (291 kW) Curtiss R-1454, the engine was deemed unsatisfactory and the 410 hp (306 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-1340 engine substituted. A second XP-3A (serial 28-189) included a cowling and spinner to reduce
756-445: Was sufficiently impressed to order 32 F2B-1s. In addition to omission of the large streamlined spinner cap, the production versions also had a balanced rudder . Delivery began on January 20, 1928, with some assigned to fighter squadron VF-1B and others to bomber squadron VF-2B , both operating from the carrier Saratoga . Although the Navy did not order any more F2Bs, Boeing built two more, as Model 69Bs, exporting one to Brazil and
784-608: Was the production version of the Curtiss XPW-8B , an improved variant of the PW-8 , 25 of which were operational with the Air Service's 17th Pursuit Squadron In September 1923, the Army ordered production of the PW-8 . The PW-8 (Curtiss Model 33) had been developed from the R-6 racer and was acquired by the Air Service after a competition with the Boeing Model 15 , designated the PW-9, to replace
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