Curtiss-Wright Model 75, X17Y. (Ray Wagner Collection, San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives)
6 May 1935: At Buffalo, New York, the prototype Curtiss-Wright Model 75, X17Y, serial number 11923, made its first flight.
Donovan Reese Berlin. (Niagara Aerospace Museum)
Designed by Donovan Reese Berlin, the airplane was a modern design of all metal construction, with fabric covered control surfaces. The Model 75 was a single-seat, single-engine low-wing monoplane with retractable landing gear.
Curtiss-Wright Model 75, X17Y. (Ray Wagner Collection, San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives)
In its original configuration, the Model 75 was powered by an air-cooled, supercharged 1,666.860 cubic inch displacement (27.315 liter) Wright Aeronautical Division GR1670A1 two-row 14-cylinder radial engine. The GR1670A1 was a developmental engine with a compression ratio of 6.75:1. It was rated at 775 horsepower at 2,400 r.p.m. at Sea Level, and 830 horsepower at 2,600 horsepower for takeoff, burning 87-octane gasoline. The engine was 3 feet, 9 inches (1.143 meters) in diameter, 4 feet, 4–25/32 inches (1.341 meters) long, and weighed 1,160 pounds (526 kilograms). The GR1670A1 drove a three-bladed Curtiss Electric constant-speed propeller through a 16:11 gear reduction.
The GR1670A1 was also used in the Seversky SEV-S1, NR18Y, a record-setting experimental variant of the rival Seversky P-35.
The United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of Air Commerce, registered X17Y to the Curtiss-Wright Corporation, Kenmore & Vulcan Street, Buffalo, New York, on issued 1 June 1936. This registration was cancelled 26 April 1937.
Curtiss-Wright Model 75, X17Y. (Ray Wagner Collection, San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives)Curtiss-Wright Model 75, X17Y. (Ray Wagner Collection, San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives)
The Curtiss-Wright Model 75 would be developed into the P-36 Hawk fighter for the U.S. Army Air Corps. France ordered it as the H75A-1, and in British service, it was known as the Mohawk Mk.I.
The tenth production P-36 was modified with a liquid-cooled Allison V-1710 V-12 engine to become the prototype XP-40.
1st Lieutenant Benjamin Scovill Kelsey in the cockpit of a Curtiss-Wright P-36A Hawk, circa 1938. (U.S. Air Force)1st Lieutenant Benjamin Scovill Kelsey, Air Corps, United States Army, with a Curtiss Wright P-36A Hawk, Air Corps serial number 38-2, at Wright Field, Ohio, circa 1938. (Ray Wagner Collection/San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives)Curtiss-Wright P-36B 38-020. (U.S. Air Force)Curtiss-Wright P-36B 38-020. (U.S. Air Force)Curtiss-Wright P-36C camouflage test, Maxwell Field, 1940. (Ray Wagner Collection, San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives)Curtiss-Wright P-40 Warhawk, 55th Pursuit Squadron, Oakland, CA, 1941 (IWM FRE11437)
McDonnell F-101A-1-MC Voodoo 53-2418, first production aircraft, parked on Rogers Dry Lake, Edwards AFB. (U.S. Air Force)
2 May 1957: The United States Air Force accepted the first production McDonnell Aircraft Corporation F-101A Voodoo supersonic fighter.
The McDonnell F-101 Voodoo was originally designed as a single-seat, twin-engine long range bomber escort, or “penetration fighter,” for the Strategic Air Command, but was developed as a fighter bomber and reconnaissance airplane. 53-2418 first flew 29 September 1954, and it was the first production F-101A to be delivered to the Air Force.
McDonnell F-101A-1-MC Voodoo 53-2418, right front quarter view. (U.S. Air Force)McDonnell F-101A-1-MC Voodoo 53-2418, right profile. (U.S. Air Force)McDonnell F-101A-1-MC Voodoo 53-2418, right rear view. (U.S. Air Force)
The F-101A was 67 feet, 5 inches (20.549 meters) long with a wingspan of 39 feet, 8 inches (12.090 meters). It was 18 feet (5.486 meters) high. The total wing area was 368 square feet (34.2 square meters). The wings were swept 36° 36′ at 25% chord. The angle of incidence was 1°, with no twist or dihedral. The Voodoo weighed 25,374 pounds (11,509 kilograms) empty and had a maximum takeoff weight of 51,000 pounds (23,133 kilograms).
The standard F-101A was equipped with two Pratt & Whitney J57-P-13 turbojet engines. The J57 was a two-spool axial-flow turbojet which had a 16-stage compressor (9 low- and 7 high-pressure stages), 8 combustors and a 3-stage turbine (1 high- and 2 low-pressure stages). The J57-P-13 was rated at 10,200 pounds of thrust (45.37 kilonewtons), and 15,800 pounds (70.28 kilonewtons) with afterburner. The engine was 3 feet, 4.3 inches (1.024 meters) in diameter, 17 feet, 7.0 inches (5.359 meters) long, and weighed 5,025 pounds (2,279 kilograms).
The Voodoo had a maximum speed of 876 knots (1,008 miles per hour (1,622 kilometers per hour) at 35,000 feet (10,668 meters). Service ceiling was 45,700 feet (13,929 meters). It carried a maximum of 2,305 gallons (8,725 liters) of fuel internally. With external tanks, the fighter bomber had a maximum ferry range of 1,898 nautical miles (2,184 statute miles/3,515 kilometers).
McDonnell F-101A-1-MC Voodoo 53-2416 in flight, bottom view. (U.S. Air Force)
The F-101A was armed with four 20mm Pontiac M39 single-barreled revolver cannon, with 200 rounds per gun. It could carry a Mark 7, Mark 28, or Mark 43 “Special Store” on a centerline mount.
McDonnell built 77 F-101As for the Air Force. 29 were later converted to RF-101G photo reconnaissance airplanes by Lockheed Aircraft Services.
F-101A 53-2418 was transferred to General Electric for testing of the J79 afterburning turbojet engine which would later power the McDonnell F-4 Phantom II.
General Electric returned the Voodoo to the Air Force in 1959. Now obsolete, it was used as a maintenance trainer at Shepard Air Force Base, Texas. It was next turned over to a civilian aviation maintenance school and assigned a civil registration number, N9250Z, by the Federal Aviation Administration. The airplane was sold as scrap, but was purchased by Mr. Dennis Kelsey.
In 2009, Mrs. Kelsey had the airplane placed in the care of the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum, McMinnville, Oregon. After being partially restored by the Evergreen Air Center, Marana, Arizona, 53-2418 was placed on display at the Evergreen Museum.
McDonnell JF-101A 53-2418 with General Electric J79 engines, circa 1957The first production Voodoo, McDonnell F-101-1-MC 53-2418 on display at the Evergreen Aviation Museum (flickriver)
