P.Bowers Curtiss Aircraft 1907-1947 (Putnam)

Model G (1916)

   The Curtiss G designation is confusing, for it seems to have been applied to both the first Curtiss tractor model delivered to the Army in 1913 and to a nacelle-type pusher based on 1915-16 European practice and using existing Curtiss Model R wings and tail and the 150 hp Curtiss V-X engine. Curtiss photographs of this single 1916 model have been labelled both Model G and Pusher R, which see. Photographs indicate that the 1916 model originally had equal-span wings with interplane ailerons and that the upper wing was then extended and incorporated the ailerons.


Pusher R - In 1916 Curtiss made an attempt at reviving US Army interest in the landplane pusher configuration by filling a pod, containing tandem cockpits and a pusher engine, with early Model R wings and new vertical tail surfaces to create a pusher in the 1914-15 European style. Longer-span R-2 wings with inset ailerons were soon installed. While performance reportedly matched that of the contemporary R-models, there was no official support for the design. This model also appears in Curtiss records as a second Model G.