And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Monday, April 14, 2025
The Curtiss BF2C Goshawk-2 served the U.S. Navy from 1934-1938.
Look at that thing. A WW1 fighter/bomber, incrementally improved. No real progress since 1918. Two .30 cal machine guns, one under-fuselage 600 lb hardpoint, two under-wing 100 lb hardpoints. 500 miles range, 200 mph top speed, 600 hp. And ten years after the GosHawk going into service in 1932, the first Merlin P-51 flew in November 1942. Technology improvement is episodic.
I had model of the Goshawk painted it in the livery as shown in the first photo. Retractable gear too.
ReplyDeleteJust a really cool beefy aircraft.
Look at that thing. A WW1 fighter/bomber, incrementally improved. No real progress since 1918. Two .30 cal machine guns, one under-fuselage 600 lb hardpoint, two under-wing 100 lb hardpoints. 500 miles range, 200 mph top speed, 600 hp. And ten years after the GosHawk going into service in 1932, the first Merlin P-51 flew in November 1942. Technology improvement is episodic.
ReplyDeletePity Curtiss kinda faded away as a company and a man. Both imho were/are underappreciated.
ReplyDeleteGreat Curtiss museum in Hammonsport, NY. You can't miss it, it has a C-46 out front.
DeleteCompare this to the Messerschmitt BF 109 which was first flown in May 1935 and was operational by 1937
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