1 photo from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. Curtiss CO Condor in flight Aero Digest August 1929: Aero Digest magazine· Attribution
what is it?
The 1929 Curtiss Model 53 Condor, also known as the Curtiss Model 53 Condor 18 or the Curtiss CO Condor, was a civil passenger version of the Model 52 Condor bomber. A twin-engined biplane, it carried 18 passengers.
How to recognise it: 2 piston engines with propellers · 28 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 97 years ago, in 1929.
- Top speed is 1.8× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- Wingspan of 28 m: about 6 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
- 1929
- number built
- 6
- role
- 18 seat airliner
- origin
- US
- engines
- 2× Curtiss GV-1570 Conqueror
- crew
- 2
- passengers
- 18
- length
- 17 m
- wingspan
- 28 m
- height
- 5.5 m
- top speed
- 234 km/h
- cruise speed
- 187 km/h
- range
- —
- ceiling
- 5,182 m
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q96375755, Wikipedia: Curtiss Model 53 Condor (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-11-08.