Curtiss Model D

what is it?

The 1911 Curtiss Model D (or frequently "Curtiss Pusher") is an early United States pusher aircraft with the engine and propeller behind the pilot's seat. It was among the first aircraft in the world to be built in any quantity, during an era of trial-and-error development and equally important parallel technical development in internal combustion engine technologies. It was also the aircraft type to make the first takeoff from the deck of a ship (flown by Eugene B. Ely off the deck of USS Birmingham on November 14, 1910, near Hampton Roads, Virginia) and to make the first landing aboard a ship (USS Pennsylvania) on January 18, 1911, near San Francisco, California.

🔎How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · 11.7 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 80 km/htop speed
• seats 1passengers
• size 590 kgmax take-off weight

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

• 🚗Wingspan of 11.7 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

—

introduced

1911

status

retired

number built

—

role

military aircraft

makers

Curtiss

engines

1× Curtiss E-4

crew

1

passengers

1

length

8.9 m

wingspan

11.7 m

height

2.4 m

max take-off weight

590 kg

top speed

80 km/h

range

—

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.