what is it?
The Curtiss Models F made up a family of early flying boats developed in the United States in the years leading up to World War I. Widely produced, Model Fs saw service with the United States Navy under the designations C-2 through C-5, later reclassified to AB-2 through AB-5. Several examples were exported to Russia, and the type was built under license in Italy.
How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · 13.7 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 114 years ago, in 1912.
- Wingspan of 13.7 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
- 1912
- number built
- 150
- role
- utility flying boat
- makers
- Curtiss
- engines
- 1× Curtiss OXX-3
- crew
- 2
- length
- 8.5 m
- wingspan
- 13.7 m
- height
- 3.4 m
- max take-off weight
- 1,116 kg
- top speed
- 111 km/h
- range
- —
- ceiling
- 1,372 m
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q1145712, Wikipedia: Curtiss Model F (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.