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Old 06-26-2018, 06:33 PM
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Information on USMC F6C-4 A-7404

Garry has asked me to provide some information on the aircraft his model is based on. It is Curtiss F6C-4, U.S. Navy Bureau of Aeronautics Number (BuNo) A-7404 in the markings of U.S. Marine Fighter Squadron 10 (VF-10M) as they were in 1930-1932. It was the fifth airplane of the squadron, so, in the marking convention of the time, the aircraft is identified as 10-F-5 (fifth airplane of Fighter Squadron 10) with the “F” in a circle to distinguish it as a Marine Corps rather than a Navy squadron.

The Curtiss F6C series of fighter planes were the equivalent of the U.S. Army Curtiss Hawks. The original Curtiss F6C-1s of 1925 were duplicates of Army Curtiss P-1 Hawks except for the colors and minor equipment differences. They were powered by 430 horsepower (hp) Curtiss D-12 water-cooled engines. The F6C-4s were F6C airframes with Pratt & Whitney R-1340 420-hp nine-cylinder radial air-cooled engines. Thirty-one F6C-4’s were built in 1927, most of them serving with Marine Fighter Squadrons 1, 9, and 10 (VF-1M, 9M, and 10M), although Navy Fighter Squadron 2 (VF-2B) served with F6C-4s aboard USS Langley (CV-1) in 1929 and 30.

In 1930, most of the F6C-4s were transferred to Pensacola Naval Air Station to serve as trainers, but eight aircraft of VF-2B, including A-7404, were transferred to VF-10M in July 1930 to replace their previous Boeing FB-5s. In September 1930, VF-10M was attached to the U.S. Army 95th Pursuit Group (commanded by Major Carl Spaatz) to participate in an exercise in which Army and Marine fighters provided air defense of San Francisco against attacking Navy carriers, Lexington (CV-2) and Saratoga (CV-3).

A-7404 crashed on 28 October 1932 and was stricken from the Navy list. That same year, VF-10M turned in their remaining F6C-4s, which were replaced with Boeing F4B-4s.

A Curtiss F6C-4 painted as A-7404 is (or was) on display at the Pima Air & Space Museum. http://www.pimaair.org/aircraft-by-name/item/hawk A restored F6C-4 painted as A-7404 (perhaps the same bird) is now on display at the National Museum of the U.S. Marine Corps. Barnstmr's Random Aeronautics: Curtiss F6C-4 Completed Headed to NM-USMC

Images:

1. Official U.S. Navy photograph of A-7404 taken at San Diego on 18 August 1931. Reproduced in Larkins, p. 36. Available on line at https://en.valka.cz/topic/view/83853/Curtiss-F6C-4-Hawk

2. Official U.S. Navy photograph 16_003190 of A-7404 from the Ray Wagner Collection. Date unknown. Available at https://www.flickr.com/photos/sdasmarchives/17915571946/in/photostream/

3. Line up of VF-10M F6C-4s at San Diego, 1930. A-7404 is second from the right. Reproduced in Sambito, p. 3. https://www.marines.mil/Portals/59/Publications/A%20History%20of%20Marine%20Fighter%20Attack%20Squ adron%20232%20%20PCN%2019000308100_1.pdf

4. William T. Larkins photo of 10-F-3. Larkins, p. 37.

5. F6C-4 painted as A-7404 at the Pima Air and Space Museum. http://www.pimaair.org/visit/new-aircraft-list

Sources:

Joe Baugher, “US Navy and US Marine Corps BuNos, First Series (A6002 to 9999),” available at http://www.joebaugher.com/navy_seria...stseries2.html

Peter M. Bowers, Curtiss Aircraft 1907-1947, Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1979, pp. 267-271.

---, Curtiss Navy Hawks in Action, Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal Publications, 1995, pp. 16-18.

Thomas E. Doll, Berkley R. Jackson, and William A. Riley, Navy Air Colors: United States Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Camouflage and Markings, Vol. 1 1911-1945 (Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal, 1983), pp. 7.

Peter Freeman, Wings of the Fleet: US Navy & Marine Corps Aviation 1919-1941, On Target Special, Ardington, Oxfordshire, UK: The Aviation Workshop Publications Ltd., 2010, p. 23.

William Green and Gordon Swanborough, “Curtiss F6C-4, Fighters A to Z,” Air International, Vol. 10, No 4, April 1976, p. 190.

William T. Larkins, U.S. Marine Corps Aircraft 1914-1959, Concord, CA: Aviation History Publications, 1959, pp. 27, 36-37.

Phil H. Listemann, USN Aircraft 1922-1962. Vol. 5: Type designation letter 'F' (Pt-2), Haverton, PA: Casemate Publishers, Philedition, 2017, pp. 56-58.

Paul R. Matt and Bruce Robertson, United States Navy and Marine Corps Fighters 1918-1962, Fallbrook, CA: Aero Publishers, 1962, reprint of the Harleyford edition of 1962, pp. 34-40, 164.

William J. Sambito, A History of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 232, Washington, DC: History and Museums Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, 1978, pp. 2-3, available at https://www.marines.mil/Portals/59/Publications/A%20History%20of%20Marine%20Fighter%20Attack%20Squ adron%20232%20%20PCN%2019000308100_1.pdf

Page Shamburger and Joe Christy, The Curtiss Hawks, Kalamazoo, MI: Wolverine Press, 1972, p. 67.

Gordon Swanborough and Peter M Bowers, “Curtiss F6C Hawk,” United States Navy Aircraft Since 1911, New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1968, pp. 123-125.
Attached Thumbnails
US Navy and USMC Between The Wars in 1/100-f6c-4_a7404_10-f-5_sandiego_310818.jpg   US Navy and USMC Between The Wars in 1/100-f6c-4_a7404_10-f-5_bowers_collection.png   US Navy and USMC Between The Wars in 1/100-f6c-4_lineup_vf-10m_sandiego_1930.png   US Navy and USMC Between The Wars in 1/100-f6c-4_usmc_10-f-3_larkins_usmc_p.37.jpg   US Navy and USMC Between The Wars in 1/100-curtiss_f6c-4_a-7404_pima.jpg  


Last edited by rickstef; 06-26-2018 at 09:34 PM.
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