Subject: Second in the Series--The Curtiss P-2 Hawk

Date: 21 Aug 92 13:18:33 GMT

>From ihlpl!jfb (Joseph F Baugher +1 708 713 4548)

The designation P-2 (company  designation  Model  34B)  was  the  Army
designation  for  the  last  five P-1 Hawks (Ser Nos 35-420/424) which
were reengined at the factory with the 500 hp Curtiss  V-1400  liquid-
cooled  engine  in  place of the standard 435 hp Curtiss V-1150 (D-12)
engine which powered the rest of the  aircraft  in  the  original  P-1
order.  The  new  engine made these five planes sufficiently different
from the rest of the P-1 order that the Army deemed them worthy  of  a
different P-designation.

The first flight  of  the  P-2  took  place  in  December  1925.   The
increased  power  provided to the P-2 by the V-1400 engine resulted in
an improvement in  performance  vis-a-vis  the  "standard"  P-1  Hawk.
Maximum  speed  at  sea  level  was  172  mph, 151 mph at 15,000 feet.
Initial climb was 2170 ft/min, and an altitude of 6500 feet  could  be
attained  in  3.5  minutes.   Weights  were 2018 lbs. empty, 2869 lbs.
gross.  Service ceiling was 22,950 feet, and range was 400 miles.  The
P-2  was  armed  with a pair of 0.30 cal machine guns installed in the
upper engine cowling, synchronized to fire through the propeller arc.

However, the V-1400 engine proved to  be  unsatisfactory  in  service.
After  less  than a year of operation, the Army converted P-2s 25-421,
422, and 424 to P-1A configuration with the replacement of the  V-1400
engine by the D-12 engine of the P-1 series.  P-2 Ser No 25-423 became
XP-6, the prototype for the P-6 line when fitted with the new  600  hp
Curtiss  V-1570  Conqueror liquid-cooled engine.  Stripped of military
equipment, it placed second (at 189 mph) in the unlimited event of the
1927  National  Air Races.  The winner of this race was the Conqueror-
powered XP-6A, which had been produced by the conversion of a P-1A.

Only Ser No 25-420 remained a P-2.   25-420  temporarily  became  XP-2
when  tested  with  turbosupercharged  Curtiss  V-1400.  Top speed was
almost 180 mph, but  the  basic  shortcomings  of  the  V-1400  engine
precluded any further development.

Sources:

  United States Military Aircraft Since  1909, Gordon Swanborough  and
  Peter Bowers, Smithsonian Institution Press, 1989.

  The American Fighter, Enzo Angellucci and Peter Bowers, Orion Books,

Joe Baugher    AT&T Bell Laboratories  2000 N. Naperville Road
		Naperville, Illinois 60566-7033  (708) 713-4548