FlyingTyger
Elite member
History:
The Curtiss Gulfhawk was a one-off demonstration/airshow airplane flown by Al Williams starting in 1930. Which, to me, made this a perfect candidate for the Barnstorming challenge for FF '23.
There were 4 basic versions as this plane went through several modifications. Originally it was mostly a Hawk 1 export version with different tail surfaces and landing gear. This version was powered by a Bristol Jupiter engine built by Bliss and was painted in a red and silver scheme.
The Bristol engine was later swapped out for a Wright Cyclone engine (version #2) trimmed with a ring cowl.
After a crash, the plane was rebuilt with a metal-skinned fuselage (version #3) and given its now iconic orange and white paint scheme. Williams flew this plane through 1936 when he replaced it with the more well-known G-22 "Gulfhawk II", a modified Grumman F3F.
In 1958 Frank Tallman found the airplane and purchased it from Al Williams. He spent 4 years restoring the plane and installed the P&W Wasp and radial bumped cowl that is still on it today. It currently resides in the National Air & Space Museum.
The Model:
I will be building my model as the last version Al Williams flew. This one has the orange and blue scheme with the ring cowl.
I will be using Dick Barron's 1/6 scale plans which the AMA plans service has been nice enough to print at 72" for me. These plans are for a traditional balsa/ply airframe, but I plan to use a mostly foam construction inspired by builds done by Josh Orchard, Carl Lydick, John Morgan, and Keith Sparks. I have been studying these types of builds for the last few years, and have completed some smaller planes trying to learn these foam building techniques. Now it's time to try a large scale airplane!
The Curtiss Gulfhawk was a one-off demonstration/airshow airplane flown by Al Williams starting in 1930. Which, to me, made this a perfect candidate for the Barnstorming challenge for FF '23.
There were 4 basic versions as this plane went through several modifications. Originally it was mostly a Hawk 1 export version with different tail surfaces and landing gear. This version was powered by a Bristol Jupiter engine built by Bliss and was painted in a red and silver scheme.
The Bristol engine was later swapped out for a Wright Cyclone engine (version #2) trimmed with a ring cowl.
After a crash, the plane was rebuilt with a metal-skinned fuselage (version #3) and given its now iconic orange and white paint scheme. Williams flew this plane through 1936 when he replaced it with the more well-known G-22 "Gulfhawk II", a modified Grumman F3F.
In 1958 Frank Tallman found the airplane and purchased it from Al Williams. He spent 4 years restoring the plane and installed the P&W Wasp and radial bumped cowl that is still on it today. It currently resides in the National Air & Space Museum.
The Model:
I will be building my model as the last version Al Williams flew. This one has the orange and blue scheme with the ring cowl.
I will be using Dick Barron's 1/6 scale plans which the AMA plans service has been nice enough to print at 72" for me. These plans are for a traditional balsa/ply airframe, but I plan to use a mostly foam construction inspired by builds done by Josh Orchard, Carl Lydick, John Morgan, and Keith Sparks. I have been studying these types of builds for the last few years, and have completed some smaller planes trying to learn these foam building techniques. Now it's time to try a large scale airplane!
Last edited:
