Curtiss P-6E Hawk

  • BOX
  • '22', 33rd Pursuit Squadron, 8th Pursuit Group, Virginia Beach Summer Camp, July 1934
  • 32-274, 17th Pursuit Squadron, 1st Pursuit Group, Selfridge Field, Michigan, 1932
  • 32-277, 94th Pursuit Squadron, Selfridge Field, Michigan, 1930
Cat. No.:
32-016
Material:
resin
Scale:
1:32
Period:
1927-1937
Marking options:
3 (US ARMY)
Number of parts:
108 x resin, 29 x pe, film
Length & wingspan:
215 x 300 (mm)
Additional features:
main elements iron reinforced
Price:

History

Starting in 1925 with the P-1, Curtiss built a long series of fighters carrying the name "Hawk". Of the eight different P-6 models produced, the P-6E remains the best known. It was a first-line pursuit aircraft for the Army Air Corps in the early 1930s and the last of the fabric-covered biplanes used by the Air Corps.

This aircraft was fitted with a 600hp Curtiss V-1570 Conqueror engine capable of a top speed of 204 miles per hour. Twin .30 caliber machine guns were the sole armament. 

Curtiss delivered 46 P-6E Hawks in 1931–1932, which equipped the 17th and 33rd Pursuit Squadrons, However the P-6E was never used in combat.

The P-6 Hawk series went on to see modest export success, albeit in limited numbers, throughout the world - particularly to Latin American customers. The United States Navy also utilized the "Hawk" system with a different designation and some modifications.

Still, the P-6E is recognized as one of the most beautiful aircraft of the 1930s, and to some , it is one of the most beautiful biplanes ever built.

A single P-6E survives. The aircraft was donated to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and restored by the School of Aeronautics at Purdue University. This aircraft is currently on display at the National Museum of the US Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.

Technical data:
Wing span: 9,60 m (31 ft 6 in)
Length: 6,88 m (22 ft 7 in)
Height: 2,71 m (8 ft 11 in)
Empty weight: 1,231 kg (2,715 lb)
Maximum Speed: 310 km/h (193 mph)
Service Ceiling: 7,285 m (23,900 ft)
Range: 393 km (244 miles)
Powerplant: Curtiss V-1570 Conqueror liquid-cooled, 600 hp engine
Armament: Two Browning .30 in (7,62 mm) machine guns