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Aviation History
1940
1940 - 1115.PDF
APRIL 18, 1940 "Flight Copyright Drawing" That the Curtiss H75-C1 is very manoeuvrable is conveyed by this special drawing. The four wing guns may be seen ; there are two others in the fuselage. FRANCE'S CURTISS FIGHTER The Manoeuvrable Six-gun i/75-Ci MOST popular of the single-seater fighters usedsince the beginning of the war by the FrenchAir Force is the American-built Curtiss bearing the official designation H75-C1. In the Curtiss plant it is known as the Hawk 75A, or simply the " French Hawk." Originally the name Hawk was applied to a series of biplane fighters but was retained for the export versions of the U.S. Army Air Corps' P-36. The Hawk 75A is not outstandingly fast but is very strong and tractable. While in France the writer was told by a Curtiss pilot that it is slightly less manoeuvr- able than the Hurricane, but rather handier than the Morane M.S.406. The Americans say that the type nas made the Meioo, a " Messeratz." th VWaS in December- I938, that Captain Vignier, of tne C.E.M.A., witnessed the tests of the first two H75-L is at Buffalo. These headed a series of 100 machines and were credited with a top speed of 298 m.p.h. nough later improvements raised the performance and jne initial order was subsequently increased. The first machines went through their tests well, though the gun mountings were found to need strengthening. February, 1939, saw the first machines tested at Bourges, in France, where they were assembled. Michel Detroyat was the pilot. Firing tests with the four Browning guns were conducted at Cazaux, the French aerial armament centre. Some of the early machines met with troubles, pos- sibly due to poor assembly. One forced landing—the result of a faulty airscrew which caused the engine to overheat—received publicity and there was a fatal accident at Bourges during aerobatics with full tanks, the machine getting into a flat spin. To-day, however, the machine is exceptionally popular among the fighter pilots of I'Armee de VAir. The most severe test conducted on the H75 was made in January, 1939, when the Curtiss test pilot Child dived one for 18,oooft. Official French automatic recording instruments were on board and a speed of 575 m.p.h. was registered. Actually the range of the recording device was exceeded and as the machine came out of the dive the recording needle returned to the drum.
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