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Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor
Company was an American aircraft manufacturer formed in 1916
by Glenn Hammond Curtiss. After significant commercial success
in the 'teens and 20s, it merged with the Wright Aeronautical
in 1929 to form Curtiss-Wright Corporation.
The Condor II was a 1933 two-bay
biplane of mixed construction with a single vertical stabilizer
and rudder, and retractable landing gear. It was powered by two
Wright Cyclone radial engines. The first aircraft was flown on
the 30th of January 1933 and a production batch of 21 aircraft
was then built. The production aircraft were fitted out as 12-passenger
luxury night sleeper transports. They entered service with Eastern
Air Transport and American Airways, forerunners of Eastern Air
Lines and American Airlines on regular night services for the
next three years. The 15th of June1934 American Airlines system
timetable marketed its Condors as being "The World's First
Complete Sleeper-Planes" with these 12-passenger aircraft
being equipped with sleeper berths and also being capable of
cruising at 190 miles per hour. An example of the Condor services
operated by American were daily overnight flights between Dallas
and Los Angeles during the mid 1930s with a routing of Dallas
– Ft. Worth – Abilene – Big Spring, TX –
El Paso – Douglas, AZ – Tucson – Phoenix –
Los Angeles.
The Colombian Air Force operated
three BT-32 equipped with floats in the Colombia-Peru War in
1933. Two modified T-32s were bought by the United States Army
Air Corps (designated YC-30) for use as executive transports.
One Condor was converted with extra fuel tanks and used by the
1939–1941 United States Antarctic Service Expedition, and,
unique for a Condor, had a fixed undercarriage to allow use on
floats or skis. Some aircraft were later modified to AT-32 standard
with variable-pitch propellers and improved engine nacelles.
The AT-32D variant could be converted from sleeper configuration
to daytime use with 15 seats. Four T-32s operating in the United
Kingdom were pressed into service with the Royal Air Force at
the outbreak of World War II. Eight bomber variants (BT-32) were
built with manually operated machine gun turrets in the nose
and above the rear fuselage. All these aircraft were exported.
A military cargo version (CT-32) was also built for Argentina.
It had a large loading door on the starboard side of the fuselage. |
