burger-menu
Поиск по сайту:
airplane photo

Страна: США

Год: 1917

Patrol flying-boat

P.Bowers Curtiss Aircraft 1907-1947 (Putnam)

Model HS Series (Model 8)

   In mid-1917, Curtiss converted the three-seat H-14 twin pusher flying-boat into a single-engined model and assigned the new designation of HS for Model H, Single-Engine.
   With the US now involved in the war, the Navy ordered a modified version of the HS into large-scale production. Existing Curtiss plants were overloaded and Curtiss couldn't meet the Navy's requirements for the HS. Consequently, five other manufacturers were given Navy contracts to build HS-boats under licence from Curtiss. Of the 1,092-aeroplane total, Curtiss built 675. Production ended when contracts were cancelled after the Armistice; only aeroplanes in an advanced stage of construction were completed in 1919. The type remained in Navy service into 1928 and in civil use in the US and Canada for a few years longer.

HS-1 - A traditional pusher flying-boat with 200 hp Curtiss V-X-3 engine driving a three-blade propeller, converted from the unsuccessful H-14 airframe.
   On 21 October, 1917, the HS-1 prototype was the test bed for the first flight of the US Government's new 360 hp twelve-cylinder Liberty engine and was later converted to HS-1L standard.

HS-1L - Significant changes were made in the production version of the HS-1, which was designated HS-1L because of the Liberty engine installation. The most noticeable difference from the prototype was the use of horn-balanced ailerons on both wings - these were the first used by Curtiss on a production aeroplane - and two degrees of dihedral in the outer wing panels. Up to 360 lb (163 kg) of bombs or depth charges could be carried on underwing racks and the defensive armament was a pair of .303-calibre Lewis machine-guns on a Scarff-ring around the front cockpit. Colouring was the new overall light grey adopted as standard Navy camouflage into 1920.
   The exact number of HS-1Ls flown is not known because some ordered as HS-1L were completed as HS-2L and others were converted later. Of the six builders of HS boats, only Curtiss and L.W.F. delivered HS-1Ls. Approximately 163 HS-1Ls were delivered to France in 1918, where they operated from ten US Naval Air Stations. The first ones arrived on 24 May and the first patrol was flown on 13 June.
   In 1920, the Naval Aircraft Factory fitted stock HS-1L wings to fifteen new tractor-type aeroplane fuselages to create the PT-1 torpedo seaplane (serials A6034/6048).

HS-2L - The 180-lb (82 kg) depth charges carried by the HS-1Ls proved to be ineffective against submarines; heavier charges (230 lb/l04 kg) were needed but the HS-1L could not carry them. This deficiency was overcome by the old Curtiss trick of increasing the wing span; a new centre-section 12 ft (3,65 m) wider was fitted and one 6 ft (1,82 m) panel was installed between each lower wing panel and the hull to create the longer-span HS-2L. The vertical tail was also enlarged and balance area was added to the rudder.
   The contract quantities and actual deliveries of HS-boats from the six manufacturers are listed here. Average unit cost was $30,000.

Model Manufacturer Ordered Delivered US Navy serial numbers
HS-1L/HS-2L Curtiss 675 675 A800/815, A1549/2207*
HS-1L/HS-2L L.W.F. 300 250 A1099/1398**
HS-2L Standard 150 80 A1399/l548
HS-2L Gallaudet 60 60 A2211/2276
HS-2L Boeing*** 75 25 A4231/4255
HS-2L Lougheed 2 2 A4228/4229
HS-2L Assembled by 25 A5564/5569, A5615/5619,
   Navy from A5787, A5808, A6506,
   spare parts in A6507/6513, A6553/6556
   postwar years
* HS-2Ls start at A1820.
** HS-2Ls start at A1223.
*** The Boeing-built HS-2Ls could be identified by the absence of lower wing ailerons.

   At least nineteen of the 182 HS-boats delivered to France were the HS-2L model. Some HS-2Ls fitted with improved 400 hp Liberty engines remained in Navy service until September 1928. After 1920, standard colouring was grey hull with silver wings and tail and chrome yellow on top surface of upper wing and horizontal tail. Thirty surplus HS-2Ls were sold to the Canadian Air Force and eventually came into civil use into the 1930s. Others were used for short-haul airline work in the US in the late I 920s. The US Navy fitted HS-2L wings to more tractor-type fuselages to create eighteen PT-2 torpedo aircraft (A6326/6343).

HS-3 - The HS-3 was a major redesign of the HS-1L/HS-2L that fitted HS-2L wings to a completely new hull and vertical tail design developed jointly by Curtiss and the Navy. The major change was widening the hull to eliminate the sponsons. The Armistice ended official interest in the HS-3 as a Service type and only four were completed by Curtiss (A5459/5462) and two by the Naval Aircraft Factory (A5590, 5591) at $23,570 each less engines.

HS Series
Patrol f1ying-boal. Two or three seats in two cockpits. 360 hp low-compression Liberty 12.

   HS-1L HS-2L HS-3
Span. 62 ft 1 in 74 ft 1 in 75 ft 6 in
   (18,92 m) (22,58 m) (23,01 m)
Length 38 ft 6 in 39 ft 38 ft 7 in
   (11,73m) (11,88m) (11,76 m)
Height 14 ft 7 in 14 ft 7 in 14 ft 7 in
   (4,44 m) (4,44 m) (4,44 m)
Wing area 653 sq ft 803 sq ft 824 sq ft
   (60,66 sq m) (74,59 sq m) (76,54 sq m)
Empty weight 4,070 lb 4,300 lb 4,550 lb
   (1,846 kg) (1,950 kg) (2,064 kg)
Gross weight 5,910 lb 6,432 lb 6,432 lb
   (2,680 kg) (2,917 kg) (2,917 kg)
Maximum speed 87 mph 82,5 mph 89 mph
   (140 km/h) (132,76 km/h) (143,22 km/h)
Climb in 10 min 1,725 ft 2,300 ft 3,120 ft
   (526 m) (701 m) (951 m)
Service ceiling 2,500 ft 5,200 ft 6,500 ft
   (762 m) (1,585m) (1,981 m)
Endurance 4,2 hr 4,5 hr 5,3 hr
(full throttle)
Armament. One flexible 0.30-in Lewis machine-gun (all models), two 230 lb (104 kg) bombs (HS-2L and HS-3)

Показать полностью

Описание:

  • P.Bowers Curtiss Aircraft 1907-1947 (Putnam)
  • G.Swanborough, P.Bowers United States Navy Aircraft Since 1911 (Putnam)
  • P.Bowers Boeing Aircraft since 1916 (Putnam)
  • Jane's All The World Aircraft 1919
  • Журнал Flight