Curtiss F11C Goshawk

The Curtiss F11C Goshawk 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.

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General characteristics
Crew: One
Length: 22 ft 7 in (6.88 m)
Wingspan: 31 ft 6 in (9.6 m)
Height: 9 ft 8.625 in (2.96 m)
Wing area: 262 ft² (24.34 m²)
Empty weight: 3,037 lb (1,378 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 4,132 lb (1,874 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Wright R-1820-78 Cyclone Air-cooled radial engine, 700 hp (522 kW)
Maximum speed: 202 mph (325 km/h)
Cruise speed: 150 mph (241 kp/h)
Service ceiling: 25,100 ft (7,650 m)
Rate of climb: 2,300 ft/min (701 m/min)
Armament: 2 fixed, synchronized .30 in (7.62 mm) M1919 Browning machine guns in the forward fuselage
1 215 lb (474 kg) bomb on an under-fuselage hardpoint or 253 lb (117 kg) bombs carried one under each lower wing
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In April 1932, when Curtiss was planning the Model 35B, the United States Navy contracted with the manufacturer for an improved derivative of the Model 34C, F6C as the F11C. It contained major changes that included the 600 hp (450 kW) Wright R-1510-98 radial engine, single-leg cantilever main landing-gear units, a slight increase in the interplane gap, metal- rather than fabric-covered control surfaces, and armament based on two .30 in (7.62 mm) fixed forward-firing machine guns supplemented by a hardpoint under the fuselage for the carriage of a 474 lb (215 kg) bomb, or an auxiliary fuel tank. 

Curtiss designed the type as the Model 64 Goshawk, with the U.S. Navy designation XF11C-1 (later XBFC-1 after the adoption of the BF for Bomber-Fighter category). The aircraft was of fabric-covered metal construction, used the wing cell structure of the dismantled YP-23, and was delivered in September 1932.

Shortly before ordering the XF11C-1, the Navy had bought a company-owned Model 64A demonstrator. This had a Wright R-1820-78 Cyclone engine, slightly longer main landing-gear legs carrying wheels with low-pressure tires, a tailwheel in place of the tailskid, fabric-covered control surfaces on the tail, and external provision for underwing racks for light bombs as well as an under-fuselage hardpoint for either a 50 gal (189 l) fuel tank or the crutch that would swing a bomb clear of the propeller disc before release in a dive-bombing attack.
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Colonel General Ernst Udet (26 April 1896 – 17 November 1941) was the second-highest scoring German flying ace of World War I. He was one of the youngest aces and was the highest scoring German ace to survive the war (at the age of 22). 

His 62 confirmed victories were second only to Manfred von Richthofen, his commander in the Flying Circus. 

Udet rose to become a squadron commander under Richthofen, and later under Hermann Göring.

Though not interested in politics, Udet joined the Nazi party in 1933 when Göring promised to buy him two new U.S.-built Curtiss Hawk II biplanes (export designation of the F11C-2 Goshawk Helldiver). The planes were used for evaluation purposes and thus indirectly influenced the German idea of dive bombing aeroplanes, such as the Junkers Ju 87 (Stuka) dive bombers. They were also used for aerobatic shows held during the 1936 Summer Olympics. Udet piloted one of them, which survived the war and is now on display in the Polish Aviation Museum (pictured)
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Flight trials of this XF11C-2 (later redesignated as the XBFC-2) revealed the need for a small number of minor changes. After making the changes, the XF11C-2 came to be regarded as the prototype for the F11C-2, of which 28 examples were ordered as dual-role fighter-bombers in October 1932.

From March 1934, the aircraft were revised with a semi-enclosed cockpit and a number of other modifications before they received the revised designation BFC-2 in recognition of their fighter-bomber or, as the Navy would have it, bomber-fighter role The last aircraft in the XF11C-2 contract was converted to the prototype XF11C-3, incorporating a more powerful R-1820-80 engine and a hand-operated retractable landing gear.

The only U.S. Navy units to operate the F11C-2 were the Navy's famous "High Hat Squadron", VF-1B, aboard the carrier Saratoga, and VB-6 briefly assigned to Enterprise. In March 1934, when the aircraft were redesignated BFC-2, the "High Hat Squadron" was renumbered VB-2B, and then VB-3B, and retained its BFC-2s until February 1938. VB-6 never actually embarked on Enterprise with the BFC bombers.

The F11C-2 Goshawk was produced in two export versions as the Hawk I and Hawk II fighters. Essentially a modified XF11C-2, the Hawk II was fitted with a Wright R-1820F-3 Cyclone rated at 710 hp (530 kW) at 1,676 m (5,499 ft) and 356 liters of fuel while the Hawk I had 189 liters of internal fuel. Both versions carried the same armament as the production F11C-2.