| CW-12 Sport Trainer and CW-16 Light Sport
|
|
| Curtiss-Wright Travel Air CW-12W (built 2009)
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| Role
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Civil trainer Type of aircraft
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| Manufacturer
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Curtiss-Wright
|
| First flight
|
1931
|
| Status
|
Some airworthy in 2009
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| Primary user
|
Private owners
|
| Number built
|
63
|
The Curtiss-Wright CW-12 Sport Trainer and CW-16 Light Sport (also marketed under the Travel Air brand that Curtiss-Wright had recently acquired) were high-performance training aircraft designed by Herbert Rawdon and Ted Wells and built in the United States in the early 1930s.
Development
The CW-12 and CW-16 shared the same basic design as conventional single-bay biplanes with staggered wings braced with N-struts. The pilot and instructor sat in tandem, open cockpits, the forward cockpit of the CW-12 having a single seat, while the CW-16's forward cockpit could seat two passengers side-by-side. Both versions of the aircraft were available in a variety of engine choices, and some CW-16s were exported as trainers to the air forces of Bolivia and Ecuador.
Specifications (CW-12Q)
Data from Curtiss Aircraft 1907–1947[6]
General characteristics
- Crew: 2
- Length: 21 ft 5 in (6.53 m)
- Wingspan: 28 ft 10 in (8.79 m)
- Height: 8 ft 10 in (2.69 m)
- Wing area: 206 sq ft (19.1 m2)
- Airfoil: Clark Y (15%)[7]
- Empty weight: 1,071 lb (486 kg)
- Gross weight: 1,725 lb (782 kg)
- Powerplant: 1 × Curtiss-Wright licence-built de Havilland Gipsy 4-cylinder air-cooled in-line piston engine, 90 hp (67 kW)
- Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch propeller
Performance
- Maximum speed: 105 mph (169 km/h, 91 kn)
- Cruise speed: 88 mph (142 km/h, 76 kn)
- Range: 390 mi (630 km, 340 nmi)
- Service ceiling: 12,000 ft (3,700 m)
- Rate of climb: 600 ft/min (3.0 m/s)
