Country of origin:

United States of America

Description:

Light commercial flying boat

Power Plant:

One 119 kw (160 hp) Curtiss C.6 six-cylinder in-line liquid-cooled engine

Specifications:

History:

The Curtiss Seagull was a civil variant of the Curtiss MF flying boat trainer produced from 1918, the civil aircraft having a 119 kw (160 hp) Curtiss C.6 six-cylinder in-line engine in place of the V-8 unit in the military variants. The MF was one of a long line of flying boats produced for the US services following the entry of the United States into World War I, when flying boats were required for patrolling coastal waters to prevent German submarine operations.

Two examples of the Seagull came to Australia. Seagull G-AUCV (c/ n MF.419/28) was registered in 1921. It left Double Bay, Sydney, NSW on 13 March 1921 and made an epic flight to and from Tasmania, this being described as the First Aerial Reconnaissance in Australia, the pilot being Capt Andrew Lang(said to be shot down by the Red Baron during World War I, the operation being financed and promoted by Lebbeus Hordern. Cameras were carried on board in order that aerial photographs could be taken of the coastline. The auxiliary yacht ‘Acielle’ accompanied the expedition and acted as a tender for the Seagull. The flight was made in short stages, the first night being at the Shoalhaven River, near Nowra, NSW, thence to Jervis Bay, Moruya, down the coast to Eden and Marlo where the Victorian Premier, Mr Lawson, was met. Later he was taken for a flight over the area. Stops were made and local flights were made with passengers. From Welshpool it flew to Lady Barren and then across the Tasman, landing on the Tamar River close to Cataract Gorge. The return flight commenced on 19 June and the aircraft arrived at Double Bay on 4 July 1921.

Later Captain Lang stated “the machine we were using was not designed for the ordeal through which she has just passed. For a craft of her size, in all probability this trip has established a world’s record for the period and conditions of weather that the machine has had to stand up to without being housed. The Seagull was designed to catch the wind but she maintained alignment throughout the worst blow. It is not a stunt machine, with full tanks and forty-two stone of human freight on board, she has taken off a choppy sea with greater alacrity than a land machine with a similar wingspread and engine power… The repairs effected on the engine were nil, except for the fitting of an American Berkshire magneto in place of the British unit… the port wingtip float had to be repaired after collision with the crayfish coff at Welshpool…two or three very small patchings were required for the wings…And so ends the first cruise of the first flying boat in Australia. May she one day find rest in some quiet museum, where in the ages to come she will be looked upon with awe and wonder by children.”

The second Seagull G-AUCU (c/ n MF.419/29) was registered on 28 June 1921 to Aerial Company Ltd. Ownership was shortly after transferred to Lebbeus Hordern. Although the two aircraft arrived in Sydney in 1920, reports indicate only one (G-AUCV) was initially assembled and test flown in the middle of 1921. G-AUCU, when assembled thereafter, did some local flying with Mr Hordern in Sydney until August 1922 when its sister aircraft returned from New Guinea. There is a notation in its CASA file that it received ‘fabric damage on wings due to continuous rains in New Guinea’ and that it went to New Guinea as a back-up aircraft for G-AUCV. However, it would seem the entry was placed on the wrong file as at that stage it did not leave Sydney. Photographic evidence has revealed the two aircraft were at some stage parked together on Sydney Harbour.

The Seagull G-AUCV (c/n MF.419/28) was shipped, with the Short Shrimp (G-AUPZ), to New Guinea on board the Burns Philp vessel ‘Marsina‘, arriving on 17 August 1922. Pilot was again Capt Andrew Lang, an ex-fighter pilot from the Australian Flying Corps (AFC), Frederick Laidler being the engineer. It operated from Port Moresby harbour, completing trials on 4 September. With Frank Hurley, the well known photographer on board, it was flown to Kaimari on the delta of the Purari River, a flight of some 402 km (250 miles) in heavy rain. Frank Hurley reported that “this was difficult, risky flying; no aeroplane had ever before ridden these skies; there were no safe landing places for the finely-made mahogany hull would have been quickly gutted by the floating debris common along the coastline; there was no radio contact with shore base and little chance of assistance in an emergency; weather and atmospheric conditions were unchartered…. Over the vast Fly Delta the little flying-boat was menaced by black rain squalls and towering banks of dark, lightning-slashed cloud. At one point the Seagull dropped from an altitude of 1500 ft to 300 ft in seconds and then was swept so violently aloft by the rush of the air currents that only Lang’s great skill saved them from disaster. However, the constant rain and humidity to which the aircraft had been subjected took its toll on the fabric covering of the wings, and the machine became un-airworthy; repairs in such a remote place were out of the question and the plans to fly the aircraft across the island were shelved”. The machine was then flown to Thursday Island and later returned to Sydney.

G-AUCU returned to Port Moresby, PNG on 19 January 1922 and returned to Brisbane, QLD on 6 February. Later, Mr H C “Horrie” Miller obtained the two aircraft to commence a seaplane service in South Australia from Albert Park. Initial plans were to import and use Supermarine Seagull III flying-boats and in order to prove the viability of the service the two Curtiss Seagull aircraft were obtained. The aircraft were crated and sent to Port Adelaide and test flights were made. However, weather was a problem, on one occasion one flying boat dragging its anchor and heading for rocks; and on another occasion running into a yacht, causing some damage. Subsequently plans for the service were shelved.

Lebbeus Hordern had no further interest in the aircraft and they were stored in a shed at Outer Harbour on the Lefevre Peninsula for a period. The registration of G-AUCU lapsed on 31 July 1925. The ultimate fate of G-AUCU is not known.

Later Horrie Miller, who, as mentioned, obtained both Seagulls, decided to do some joyriding with G-AUCV. It was shipped to Brisbane and assembled, operating from Southport. There it was involved in tourist flights during the Christmas Holidays in 1924. At the same time Miller operated his de Havilland DH.9 landplane nearby doing similar work. In 1925 ownership was transferred to E W Videan. On 30 November 1925 it was involved in an accident at Crab Island. Damage was occasioned to the wings and repairs were effected.

The Seagull G-AUCV suffered a further accident on a test flight at New Farm on the Brisbane River on 17 January 1926. On this occasion at about 97 km/h (60 mph) and at a height of 24 m (80 ft) it hit an ‘air pocket’ causing it to sideslip and spin into the river bank causing extensive damage. It was never repaired. It was struck from the register on 20 September 1926 when the registration lapsed. The hull was converted to a motor-boat and it plied the Brisbane River for some years. The Curtiss engine was fitted to Avro 504K G-AUDR by Horrie Miller at Eagle Farm airport.

One example of the Curtiss D flying boat was imported to New Zealand by the Walsh Brothers for their operations at Mission Bay, Auckland. This machine was operated by the New Zealand Flying School (Walsh Bros & Dexter Ltd) for training of pilots for World War I alongside four Walsh Flying Boats and two Caudron hydro-aeroplanes, pilots being trained for the Imperial Air Service and joining pilots on the Western Front in Europe. The Model D was fitted with a 67 kw (90 hp) Curtiss OX-5 engine. Its ultimate fate is not known but it is assumed it was burnt after it outlived its usefulness after the Armistice.

Of the 160 examples of rhe series built, five have survived. One, named ‘Eleanor III’ was used on a scientific expedition to survey the Rio Branco and Rio Uraricoera Rivers in the Amazon in 1924-1925. It was powered by a 119 kw (160 hp) Curtiss C.6 six-cylinder in-line engine. Later in 1926 it was presented to the Science Museum in London, UK and it was displayed at South Kensington in the 1930s. Eventually in 1968 it was obtained by the National Museum of Science and Technology in Canada, restored, and placed on display in the National Aeronautical Collection at Rockcliffe. It has since been placed on display in the National Collection in Ottawa.

Other survivors have included one in the National Air & Space Museum in Washington, DC; and one with the Glenn H Curtiss Museum in Hammondsport, New York. A team of volunteers at the Curtiss Museum built a replica of the Curtiss Model E flying boat, fitted with a 75 kw (100 hp) Curtiss OXX-6 engine, which commenced test flying from Keuka Lake in 1999.

Another was auctioned and sold in New York in April 2010, this aircraft being purchased by New Zealand film producer, Peter Jackson. It was shipped to New Zealand and, after some restoration work, assembled and placed on display at the Omaka Aviation Heritage Museum in Blenheim on the south island. This aircraft NC903 (ex C903, US Navy A5541) was manufactured by the Naval Aircraft Factory at the Philadelphia Naval Yard. It is believed to have operated from Pensacola or Atlantic City and was the 61st of the 80 completed at the NAF. It was owned for many years by W H Long of Lorain, Ohio, based at Sandusky Bay, and flown by Albert J Engel for the owner. On 21 June 1945 it was donated to the Frederick C Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum in Cleveland and was displayed for a time at the Western Historical Reserve Society Museum.