what is it?
The Curtiss Fledgling, known internally to Curtiss as the Model 48 and Model 51 is a trainer aircraft developed for the United States Navy in the late 1920s and known in that service as the N2C.
How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · 11.9 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 99 years ago, in 1927.
- Wingspan of 11.9 m: about 3 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
- 1927
- number built
- 160
- role
- trainer
- engines
- 1× Wright J-5
- crew
- 2
- length
- 8.3 m
- wingspan
- 11.9 m
- height
- 3.1 m
- max take-off weight
- 1,285 kg
- top speed
- 175 km/h
- cruise speed
- 140 km/h
- range
- —
- ceiling
- 4,602 m
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q3941633, Wikipedia: Curtiss Fledgling (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.