1 photo from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. Curtiss 18T-1: Unknown author Unknown author· Public domain
what is it?
The Curtiss 18T, unofficially known as the Wasp and by the United States Navy as the Kirkham, was an early American triplane fighter aircraft designed by Curtiss for the US Navy. It was redesignated Curtiss Model 15 in Curtiss's later rationalization of their model numbering.
How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · triplane · fixed tailwheel (taildragger) · 9.8 m wingspan
base stats
Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).
fun facts
- First flew 108 years ago, in 1918.
- Top speed is 2.0× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- Wingspan of 9.8 m: about 2 cars parked nose to tail.
piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.
spec sheet
- first flight
- 1918-05-07
- introduced
- 1919
- number built
- —
- role
- twoseat fighter triplane
- origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- makers
- Curtiss-Wright
- engines
- 1× Curtiss K-12
- crew
- 2
- length
- 7.1 m
- wingspan
- 9.8 m
- height
- 3.1 m
- max take-off weight
- 1,383 kg
- top speed
- 262 km/h
- range
- —
- ceiling
- 7,010 m
- wings
- triplane
- landing gear
- fixed conventional landing gear
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q4163118, Wikipedia: Curtiss 18 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.