Aircraft ID

KVNC

KVNC

Florida Man
I've been researching aviation history in my county recently and while at the archives came across these old photos. The time frame should be around 1918, so of a WWI vintage. I was wondering if anyone could help pinpoint what they are.

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Starting in 1925 with the P-1, Curtiss built a long series of fighters carrying the name "Hawk." Of the eight different P-6 models produced, the P-6E remains the best known. Originally designated the Y1P-22, the U.S. Army Air Corps redesignated this aircraft the P-6E because of its similarity to the other P-6s. Curtiss delivered 46 P-6E Hawks, the last biplane fighter built in quantity for the Air Corps. Never used in combat, the P-6E is recognized as one of the most beautiful aircraft of the 1930s.

The only original P-6E still in existence, this P-6E appears in the colors and markings of the airplane assigned to Capt. Ross G. Hoyt, Commanding Officer of the 17th Pursuit Squadron, 1st Pursuit Group, based at Selfridge Field, Mich. in 1933. Edward S. Perkins of Anniston, Ala., donated it to the museum, and the Department of Aviation Technology at Purdue University restored it in 1963.

TECHNICAL NOTES:
Armament: Two .30-cal. machine guns
Engine: Curtiss V-1570 of 600 hp
Maximum speed: 204 mph
Cruising speed: 167 mph
Range: 480 miles
Ceiling: 24,400 ft.
Span: 31 ft. 6 in.
Length: 23 ft. 2 in.
Height: 8 ft. 11 in.
Weight: 3,432 lbs. loaded

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The first, second, and fourth pictures definitely look like a Curtis P-6 to me, the third one is a bit harder to tell. Obviously it's not a regular P-6, but could be one of the Hawk I's (P-6S) built for Cuba which had a P&W R-1340 Wasp radial, but there were only three of those. The wheel struts look a little different and the lower wing looks a little further forward than on the Curtis planes, and it might be one of the Boeing P-12/F4B variants but it's just to hard to tell for sure.
 
BigZ said:
Used to do that kind of stuff in college. Not always sober and with dial-up internet. Those were the days.
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Internet? I used to dig through libraries and used book stored to find period references whenever I would find old photos like that! In fact, I've still got a bunch of the books out in the garage.
 
n156499000 said:
Internet? I used to dig through libraries and used book stored to find period references whenever I would find old photos like that! In fact, I've still got a bunch of the books out in the garage.
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Online since 1997... Still have the books too. Buying a couple of the Squadron Signal books would leave a considerable dent in the budget, considering I paid something like $40/month for a very nice apartment
 
BigZ said:
Online since 1997... Still have the books too. Buying a couple of the Squadron Signal books would leave a considerable dent in the budget, considering I paid something like $40/month for a very nice apartment
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Yeah, the internet just made things worse for me. I found a box of about 40 Squadron books at a garage sale for $5 total once, most were for ground vehicles but found a few rare planes in it as well.
 
n156499000 said:
Yeah, the internet just made things worse for me. I found a box of about 40 Squadron books at a garage sale for $5 total once, most were for ground vehicles but found a few rare planes in it as well.
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I put together WWII planes in 1/72 at the average rate of 2.5/month. My roommate was one of those scary people who scratch built WWII tanks in 1/35 out of heavy stock paper (wheels and tracks including) at the rate of about 1 a year. And he put heck of a lot more hours into his stuff than I did.
 
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