Curtiss Falcon

A number of biplanes built by Curtiss were named "Falcon", most under the US Army designation O-1. They first appeared in 1924.

The plane was a conventional unequal-span design with wooden wings, while the fuselage was built using alumninum tubing. The tail included a balanced rudder, and the landing gear was fixed, with a rear skid originally, later changed to a tail wheel.

It was reasonably successful as an observation plane, and the A-3 attack variant also saw considerable use, reserve units flying them until 1937.

Variants

• A-3 - O-1B converted for use as attack aircraft, 66 built
• A-3A - A-3s converted into trainers
• A-3B - O-1E converted for attack use, 78 built
• XA-4 - one A-3 with a Wasp radial engine
• O-1 - 10 built
• O-1A - Liberty engine
• O-1B - 45 built
• O-1C - four O-1Bs converted into VIP transports
• O-1E - 41 built
• O-1F - one O-1E converted into VIP transport
• O-1G - 30 built
• O-11 - 66 built
• XO-12
• XO-13
• O-13B
• XO-16 - one O-11 with Conqueror engine
• XO-18 - one O-1B used to test Chieftain engine
• O-39 - O-1G airframe with Conqueror engine, 10 built
• Civil Falcon - 20 built
  • Conqueror Mailplane
  • D-12 Mailplane
  • Lindbergh Special - sold to Charles Lindbergh
  • Liberty Mailplane - 14 for National Air Transport
• F8C-1 - four built for US Marine Corps, later designated OC-1
• F8C-3 - for Navy, 21 built, later OC-2
• XOC-3 - XF8C-1 with a Chieftain engine
• Export Falcon - twin-float version of O-1B sold to Colombia, 16 built
• South American D-12 Falcon - 10 for Peru
• Colombia Cyclone Falcon - Model 37F with Wright Cyclone engine for Colombia, 100 sold
• Chilean Falcon - O-1E design built under license in Chile, ten sold to Brazil