While many iconic aircraft such as the P-40 flown by the famous Flying Tigers have become household names, less known are the prototypes that came before them. One such aircraft is the Curtiss Hawk 74 of the early 1930s.
Few aircraft engines since the W.W. I Liberty saw as widespread use as the Curtiss Conqueror did in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The U.S. Army Air Corps not only funded an advanced version known as the Conqueror II, but also a new prototype pursuit taking advantage of advances in aeronautics such as retractable landing gear, cantilever wings and all-metal construction.
With great anticipation, the new Curtiss Hawk 74 monoplane was rolled out for flight tests at Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio in February, 1934. The Prestone-cooled Curtiss Conqueror II engine exceeded all performance expectations and the Air Corps ordered several modified prototypes.
The fourth prototype shown here carried formidable armament (for the day) of six .50 caliber machine guns, four of them in the wings and two on the engine decking synchronized to fire through the propeller.
The new Curtiss Hawk 74 obliterated all targets at a gunnery demonstration before Air Corps Chief General Foulois and his staff. Finally, the U.S. Army Air Corps looked like it would have a pursuit that was the match of anything else in the air.
To further test the new prototype, an un-armed version was built to participate in the 1934 National Air Races in Cleveland, Ohio. The Air Corps expected to win the coveted Thompson Trophy handily.
Unfortunately, the Curtiss Conqueror II engine threw a rod and imploded before rounding the first pylon. As this poster shows, a pilot wearing a mouse costume won the race and with it, the right to host the 1935 competition.
The Air Corps, completely humiliated by losing to someone in mouse ears, refused to order any more Hawk 74s and withheld final payment for the prototypes. It was back to the drawing board for the engineers at Curtiss.
However, even though the Hawk 74 is completely forgotten today, further design work resulted in the aircraft flown by the Flying Tigers that became so legendary.
Brian da Basher
