One of only a handful of dedicated Army racing aircraft and the only Army seaplane racer. With public interest in airplane racing at an all-time high, the Army Air Service and the Navy teamed up in an effort to sweep both the 1925 Pulitzer Trophy for landplanes and the Schneider Cup for seaplanes. The result was the R3C, the latest in a line of Curtiss unlimited racers. The aircraft had several unique design features, including low-drag radiators made of corrugated brass sheeting .004 inches thick that covered most of the surfaces of the upper and lower wings, and a drop-forged duralumin propeller. Army Lt. Jimmy Doolittle lost a coin toss to Navy Lt. Al Williams to be the first to fly the new aircraft. On October 12, with the aircraft fitted with fixed landing gear (and designated R3C-1), Army Lt. Cyrus Bettis won the Pulitzer Trophy race with an average speed of 248.99 mph at Mitchel Field, N. Y. Lieutenant Williams was second. Ten days later, off the coast near Baltimore, Md., in the same aircraft, but now fitted with streamlined single-step wooden floats (and designated R3C-2), Lieutenant Doolittle successfully defended the US's championship in the Schneider Cup race, winning with an average speed of 232.7 mph. The Navy entrants, Lts. George Cuddihy and Ralph A. Ofstie, flying the other two R3C-2s, both had mechanical trouble and had to withdraw but still finished third and fourth. On October 27, Lieutenant Doolittle set a world seaplane record of 245.713 mph over a three-km course in the Army aircraft. Fitted with a new 665-hp engine (and redesignated R3C-4), the Army aircraft was loaned to the Navy for the 1926 Schneider Cup race, and Marine Lt. Christian F. Schilt finished second. This was last US military Schneider Cup team. The Army R3C-2, the only surviving aircraft, is now on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D. C.
| Contractors: |
Curtiss Aeroplane & Motor Co. |
| Locations Built: |
Garden City, N. Y. |
| Number Built: (USAF) |
Three (one) |
| First Flight: |
September 11, 1925 |
| First Flight Model: |
R3C-1 |
| First Flight Location: |
Garden City, N. Y. |
| First Flight Pilot: |
Lt. Al Williams, USN |
| Models/Variants: |
R3C-1, -2 |
| Powerplant: |
One Curtiss V-1400 liquid-cooled V-12 of 610 hp |
| Wingspan: |
22 ft 0 in. |
| Length: |
19 ft 81/2 in. |
| Height: |
6 ft 91/2 in (R3C-1). 8 ft 1 in (R3C-2) |
| Weight: |
2,150 lb gross (R3C-1). 2,539 lb gross (R3C-2) |
| Armament: |
None |
| Accommodation: |
Pilot only |
| Cost: |
Approx $70,000 |
| Max. Speed: |
263 mph |
| Range: |
216 mi at full throttle; approx 48 min endurance (R3C-1). 290 mi at full throttle; approx 1.3 hr endurance (R3C-2) |
| Ceiling: |
Unconfirmed, as it was mostly flown at low altitudes around race pylons. |
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