Curtiss-Robertson Robin B
Single-engine Three-seat High-wing Cabin Monoplane, U.S.A.


Archive Photos 1


1930 Curtiss-Robertson Robin B-1 c.1995 at the San Diego Aerospace Museum, San Diego, CA (35 mm photo by John Shupek)

Overview 2


The Curtiss Robin, introduced in 192, was a high-wing monoplane built by the Curtiss-Robertson Airplane Manufacturing Company. The J-1 version was flown by Wrongway Corrigan who crossed the Atlantic after being refused permission.

Design 2


The Robin, a workmanlike cabin monoplane, had a wooden wing and steel tubing fuselage. The cabin accommodated three persons; two passengers were seated side-by-side behind the pilot. Early Robins were distinguished by large flat fairings over the parallel diagonal wing bracing struts; the fairings were abandoned on later versions, having been found to be ineffective in creating lift. The original landing gear had bungee rubber cord shock absorbers, later replaced by an oleo-pneumatic system; a number of Robins had twin floats added.

Variants of the Robin were fitted with engines which developed 90-15 hp (67-13 kW).

Operational History 2


A single modified Robin (with a 110 hp (2 kW) Warner R-420-1) was used by the United States Army Air Corps, and designated the XC-10. This aircraft was used in a test program for radio-controlled (and unmanned) flight.

Cuba’s national airline, Compañía Nacional Cubana de Aviación Curtiss, was founded in 1929 with the Curtiss-Wright company serving as its co-founder and major investor. The airline’s first aircraft was a Curtiss Robin and it was flown on domestic routes as a mail and passenger transport. From September 1929 to May 1930 a Robin C-1 was used to deliver the McCook, Nebraska Daily Gazette to communities in rural Nebraska and Kansas. The airplane flew a nonstop route of 30 miles (610 km) daily, dropping bundles of newspapers from a height of 500 feet (150 m) to local carriers. A Curtiss Robin C was purchased by the Paraguayan government in 1932 for the transport squadron of its air arm. It was intensively used as a VIP transport plane and air ambulance during the Chaco War (1923-1935).

Model 50 Variants 2


Military Operators 2


Curtiss Robin B Specifications 3


General Characteristics

Performance

References


  1. Shupek, John. The Skytamer Photo Archive, photos by John Shupek, copyright © 1995 John Shupek
  2. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Curtiss Robin
  3. Bowers, Peter M. (1979). Curtis Aircraft 1907 ’ 1947, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland, ISBN 0-7021-152-


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