Curtiss F11C "Goshawk"
Model Airplane News Cover Art for November, 1934 and September, 1962
by Jo Kotula
right: Variant as XSBC-4 two place scout bomber
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The Curtiss F11C was a 1930s United States naval biplane fighter aircraft that saw limited success but was part of a long line of Curtiss Hawk airplanes built by the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company for the American military. It is named after the Goshawk, a raptor with with short, broad wings and a long tail, both adaptations to maneuvring through trees in the forests.

        

The Curtiss F11C "Goshawk"
(left) The Goshawk (Bird) Click to Enlarge

The Goshawk (circa 1932) used a 600 hp Wright radial engine, metal- rather than fabric-covered control surfaces, and armament pf tw 30 caliber fixed forward-firing machine guns with a hardpoint under the fuselage to carry a 474 lb bomb, or an auxiliary fuel tank. Curtiss designed the type as the Model 64 Goshawk, with the US Navy designation XF11C-1 (later XBFC-1 after the adoption of the BF for Bomber-Fighter category). Initially, the airplane had fixed landing gear but was modified to have retractable gear.

Here is a video of the Curtiss F11C "Goshawk" in action. Oddly, it features Ernst Udets, the German (prewar) stunt pilot flying a Goshawk. Udet later became one of the highest scoring fighter aces of World War II (Flying a Msserschmitt Bf 109, not the Goshawk):

Click Here for more information about the Curtiss F11C "Goshawk".

This is a Cleveland Master Kit of the F11C that is from the period where paint was included in the kit. Note the painting instructions given in the lower right picture. The photos are of a model made from the kit.

  

  

Cleveland Model of the Curtiss F11C "Goshawk"

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You can buy the plans and patterns that will enable you to make this model right now. Click Here to go to the exact location on the Cleveland Website to get them.

Curtiss F11C "Goshawk" at the Cleveland Site
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