The First of the Great Flying Boats
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America The first of the great flying boats BY JIM POEL AND LEE SACKETT America’s History would be up to the task. tiss had built. It also incorporated In 1914 Rodman Wannamaker To celebrate 100 years of peace many design features that stayed (of the department store fame) con- between the United States and in use throughout flying-boat pro- tracted Glenn Curtiss to build an England, in 1913 The London Daily duction in the coming years. The aircraft that was capable of flying Mail newspaper offered a prize of innovations included the stepped across the Atlantic Ocean. Not even $50,000 for the first aerial crossing hull, step vents, wing floats, spon- a decade had passed since Glenn of the Atlantic between the two sons, provisions for in-flight main- Curtiss and the Aerial Experiment countries. To further commemo- tenance, an enclosed cockpit, and Association (AEA) had flown the rate the strong bonds between even provisions for an in-cabin June Bug near Hammondsport, New England and the United States, mattress that would allow a crew- York. Aviation had made amazing there was to be both a British and member to rest. strides in the six years since the an American pilot. The aircraft was powered by two flight of the June Bug, but Wan- It only took 90 days to turn out 90-hp V-8 OX-5 engines and was namaker’s proposed flight seemed the Curtiss model H America, the designed to cruise at 55 to 60 mph. more “Jules Verne” than practi- world’s first multi-engine flying The instrument panel consisted of a cal. Still, the promise of aviation boat. With its 72-foot upper wing board that ran across the aircraft in led most to believe that the flight span and gross weight of more front of the cockpit, just below the would take place; it was simply a than 5,000 pounds, this was, up to windscreen. Installed on the board matter of when the technology that point, the largest aircraft Cur- were an airspeed indicator, a special 6 JANUARY 2009 To celebrate 100 years of peace between the United States and England, in 1913 The London Daily Mail newspaper offered a prize of $50,000 for the first aerial crossing of the Atlantic between ED VOUGHT the two countries. compass that was built just for the with which America was built (it was ships, the flight was postponed and occasion, and an altimeter. Also, first test flown on June 28, 1914), eventually cancelled. Instead of just above the instrument board, testing continued throughout the achieving the fame and fortune of mounted just below the front wind- next two months during the sum- the first aircraft to fly across the At- screen, was a curved glass tube with mer of 1914, as the big biplane lantic Ocean, America would serve a bubble that acted as a wings-level needed considerable tweaking to aviation development in another indicator. Navigation was done by gain the performance needed to way. It would be the very first of a compass and was to be assisted by make the flight. By the time testing long line of great multi-engine fly- a picket line of British and Ameri- was concluded, fate would inter- ing boats built by many manufac- can naval destroyers stationed ev- vene. The June 28 assassination of turers over the next two decades. ery 100 miles along their route of Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz America and its backup aircraft, flight. The ships could also render Ferdinand set in motion a series of another H-4, were shipped to Eng- rescue assistance if needed. The war declarations that culminated in land (on the Mauritania) and used plan was to fly America from Tre- early August, heralding the begin- for flight training and surveillance passey Bay, Newfoundland, south- ning of what would be a four-year of the North Sea. Over the next two east to Funchal, in the Portuguese global conflict. World War I broke years, 60 more were built. These Madeira islands, and then north to out two weeks before the transatlan- were bigger with more powerful en- Plymouth, England. tic flight was to be attempted. Since gines. From this early flying-boat Despite the remarkable speed both countries had to recall their design came others. They got big- VINTAGE AIRPLANE 7 ED VOUGHT ger, faster, and more complex, but still used all the basic innovations that Glenn Curtiss designed in 1914. The Replica As part of their continuing work to honor and com- memorate the accomplishments of one of aviation’s pi- oneers, the volunteers of the Glenn H. Curtiss Museum in Hammondsport built a reproduction of America. The project took a bit longer to build, covering a period of three years. After construction in the restoration shop of the Glenn H. Curtiss Museum in Hammondsport, New York, the wings are installed on the grounds of the Mercury Aircraft Corporation. ED VOUGHT 8 JANUARY 2009 The planking of the inverted hull of the H-4 closely followed high-speed boat construction. The original Curtiss H-4 America in the Curtiss factory in 1914. Phoroa Courtesy Glenn H. Curtiss Museum Another view of the original America during the construction. The instrument “panel” con- sisted of little more than a board across the cockpit, and an adapted marine compass. A pair of special propellers was tested on the H-4 as the designers and test pilots tried to coax more thrust out of the V-8 Curtiss engines. Watching the work being done on the huge aircraft became quite an attraction for visitors to the museum. VINTAGE AIRPLANE 9 Only a few blue- prints were available. The available drawings documented certain wing RALPH GUASP sections, the flight controls, sta- tions. America was officially bilizers, struts, and some fittings. plane with a bicy- christened and taxi dem- To aid in filling in the missing cle spoke wrench. onstrations were held, but flight knowledge, there were numerous As the airplane came together, tests would have to wait until the construction photographs and it was moved out of the restoration freshly overhauled engines and even patent drawings. The pho- shop onto the main floor. Watch- props were completed. tographs were enlarged, which al- ing the work being done on the The year 2008 was a different lowed very accurate dimensions to huge aircraft became quite an at- story. With two newly overhauled be determined. Studying the old traction for visitors to the museum. counter-rotating, 100-hp V-8 Cur- photographs of the aircraft under The final gross weight came out to tiss OXX-6 engines and matching construction in the Curtiss plant 4,100 pounds. This gave the aircraft propellers, now mounted in the became a daily ritual for the volun- a wing-area-to-weight ratio similar center section, America was again teers. Thanks to the excellent reso- to a Piper J-3 Cub. disassembled and transported to lution of the slow film emulsions In late summer of 2007 it be- the waters of Keuka Lake. of that time, amazing details were came clear that our engines, which On September 7, 2008, the first discovered in this manner. were sent out for overhaul, would sea trials of the season began. The Each time a photograph was stud- not be ready for the planned chris- engines were started and warmed ied, some new detail was noticed. tening and first flight in September. up. The aircraft then was turned Even a large electric drill hanging With only weeks to go, two nor- into the wind and the throttles ad- on a post in one photograph that mally turning 90-hp Curtiss OX-5 vanced for the first-step taxi tests. was viewed dozens of times wasn’t engines and mismatched props Would the engines be powerful noticed for more than a year. were fitted. enough to get the aircraft on the Construction of the replica was It is worthy to note here that step? The question was quickly an- done using most of the same ma- the original America had counter- swered. Eleven seconds later, Amer- terials and techniques that Cur- rotating propellers that were spe- ica lifted sprightly from the surface tiss used, such as copper rivets and cially carved for the airplane by Dr. of Keuka Lake. With no pitch slot-head brass screws (the Phil- Charles Olmstead of Buffalo. These change, the aircraft transited from lips head screw wouldn’t be in- rotated just the opposite from mod- displacement directly to flight. Un- vented for at least 15 years). There ern counter-rotating twin-engine like most seaplanes, which need were a few liberties taken with his- aircraft. America’s props had the time to accelerate to flying speed tory in the interest of safety: cov- down blade sweeping outboard, once they climb on the step, Amer- ering with a fire-resistant material and the blades coming up were in- ica, with its low stall speed (38 rather than varnished red silk, two- board. This not only eliminated mph) and 46-foot lower wing rid- part epoxy glue instead of animal P-factor, but gave the horizontal ing in ground effect, is ready to fly glue, and adding trim tabs to un- stabilizer, which was a positive air- as soon as it reaches the step. Be- load the large flight controls (trim foil, an up draft, or free lift as the ing out of trim, it took all of our tabs and balanced flight controls designers saw it. strength holding forward pressure hadn’t been invented yet either).