Classic Airframes 1/48 BF2C-1 Hawk

Along with Boeing, the Curtiss-Wright Corporation was the most prolific designer and manufacturer of single-seat fighter aircraft for both the U.S. Army Air Corps and U.S. Navy between 1925 and 1935. Curtiss, however, differed fundamentally from both its then-competitor, Boeing, and its later competitor, Grumman, in its policy of creating a basic design and improving in incrementally, stretching this over as long a time period as possible. Admittedly, it was a period in which the technology was such that the same basic design could fulfill the very-different requirements of both services. The difference was that both Boeing and Grumman were interested in advancing the state of the art, and had no difficulty abandoning a proven design of something newer held the promise of superior performance. After 1935, as the U.S. Navy remained unable to decide if it would join the monoplane revolution, Curtiss went on to create its most successful fighter series, the P-36/P-40 for the USAAC, but this again was a design series that did not "push the edge of the envelope," and was known during the war as "the best second choice." It is for reasons like this that, since 1945, Curtiss has not been a factor in U.S. aircraft development.

The Curtiss "Hawk" first appeared in 1925 as the P-1 for the USAAC, and shortly thereafter as the F6C-1 for the Navy. While the Army continued to accept the in-line liquid-cooled engine, the Navy opted for the radial air-cooled engine, which was both lighter and more reliable than the current liquid-cooled powerplants, an important consideration for an aircraft with wheels flying over large bodies of water. Curtiss was able to turn the radial-engined naval fighters that came after this decision into a successful line of export fighters under the "Hawk" designation, selling the aircraft in South America and China.

By 1935, Grumman had replaced Boeing as Curtiss' chief competitor for Navy contracts, with its FF-1 and F2F-1, and the coming F3F-1 - all of which were biplanes with retractable landing gear. In an attempt to compete with these more modern designs, Curtiss modified its F11C-2 as the XF11C-3, with a deepened forward fuselage that allowed for retractable landing gear of the kind used by Grumman; the open cockpit was soon replaced by a heightened turtledeck on the rear fuselage and a half-canopy, which was almost always left slid back in the open position. When the Navy ordered the aircraft into limited production, it was as the BF2C-1, a new designation that meant the airplane was seen primarily as a dive bomber, with the role of fighter as a secondary requirement. The aircraft served with VF-5B aboard the USS "Ranger" from October 1936 to November 1937, the shortest operational lifespan of any Naval aircraft of the period. This was due to the fact that - in its attempt to modernize a ten year old design - Curtiss had exchanged wooden wings for metal wings. Unfortunately the vibration frequency of this structure was in harmony for the engine at cruising speed. In flight, the airplane seemed to be shaking itself to pieces, no matter the fixes tried by Curtiss and the Navy. Curtiss' final solution was an offer to re-equip the airplanes with the wooden wing of the successful export variant, the Hawk III, but the Navy considered the airplane passé in light of coming designs, and the BF2C-1 unceremoniously left service, replaced by the earlier F4B-4 pending re-equipment with more modern monoplanes. Thus the last Curtiss naval fighter was cast aside, the victim of a failure to keep up with contemporary developments in aircraft design and construction.

The BF2C-1, due to its interesting configuration, has long been of interest to modelers who enjoy the aircraft of the between-the-wars "Golden Age," but has only been available in kit form as a very good 1/32 injection molded kit first released by Hasegawa 25 years ago (and still excellent), and as a 1/48 vacuform from Sierra Scale Models four years ago. A very old 1/48 (and very inaccurate) kit by Lindberg of the F11C-2 has been the basis over the years for modelers so determined as to create a scratchbuilt conversion to the BF2C-1. Thus, this kit by Classic Airframes is the first 1/48 injection-molded kit of the last Hawk. The BF2C-1 is the first release of what may be the entire series of Hawks back to the P-1. The export variant, the Hawk III (subject of a different review) has been released at the same time, and will be shortly followed by the F11C-2 "Goshawk"/Hawk II this summer.