Curtiss HS

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HS
Type Patrol flying boat
Manufacturer Curtiss
Maiden flight 1917
Number built ca. 1,178

The Curtiss HS was a small patrol flying boat built for the United States Navy during World War I. Essentially similar to the Curtiss MF sporting flying boats, the HS was given the factory designation Model H-14, although its design was unrelated to the other Model H variants. It was a conventional unequal-span, unstaggered biplane with a single pusher engine mounted in the interplane gap. Unlike the MF, the HS hull incorporated the sponsons that had improved the Model H's hydrodynamics so much.

The initial HS-1 version was powered by a Curtiss V-X-X engine, but as with its larger Model H cousins, this powerplant proved inadequate, leading to a re-engining with the Liberty engine as the HS-1L. Trials led the Navy to requesting greater lifting capacity to carry a larger weapons load, and Curtiss responded with an increased-span version, the HS-2. Again, Curtiss specified one of their own engines, and again, the Navy substituted this for the Liberty engine in the definitive HS-2L.

The HS-2L was built in vast quantities: over 650 by Curtiss themselves, and nearly as many again by various contractors that included L-W-F (300), Standard (80), Gallaudet (60), and Boeing (25).

[edit] Operational history

The HS-2L went into service in September 1918, conducting U-boat patrols over the North Atlantic from bases in Nova Scotia. A smaller number saw service with the US Navy in Europe during the closing months of the war.

Following the Armistice, some HSs passed into US Coast Guard service. Many were used in Canada as the first bush plane. One survives in the air museum in Ottawa after being rescued from a Quebec lake.

[edit] Variants

  • HS-1 - prototype with Curtiss engine
    • HS-1L - early production version of HS-1 with Liberty engine
  • HS-2 - longer-span version with Curtiss engine
    • HS-2L - definitive production version with Liberty engine


[edit] Specifications (HS-2L)

Launching an HS-2L at U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Morehead City, North Carolina. Date unknown.
Launching an HS-2L at U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Morehead City, North Carolina. Date unknown.

General characteristics

  • Crew: Two-three
  • Length: 39 ft 0 in (11.90 m)
  • Wingspan: 74 ft 1 in (22.6 m)
  • Height: 18 ft 9 in (5.70 m)
  • Wing area: 695 ft² (64.6 m²)
  • Empty weight: 4,300 lb (1,950 kg)
  • Gross weight: 4,632 lb (2,918 kg)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Vee-12 Liberty engine, 360 hp (270 kW)

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 85 mph (137 km/h)
  • Service ceiling: 517 ft (832 m)
  • Rate of climb: 180 ft/min (0.9 m/s)

Armament

  • 1 × .303 Lewis gun in flexible mount
  • 2 × bombs or depth charges carried under wings

[edit] References

  • Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions, 281. 
  • Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1919. London: Sampson Lowe Marston, 452a. 


[edit] See also

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Ground Attack: A-3 Falcon • A-4 Falcon • A-5 Falcon • A-6 Falcon • A-8 Shrike • YA-10 Shrike • A-12 Shrike • YA-14

Licensed production: NBS-1
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