The Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk had originally been designed as a small single-seat shipboard fighter developed in response to a Navy spec laid down on May 10, 1930. It was in competition with the General Aviation (formerly Fokker) XFA-1 and the Berliner-Joyce XFJ-1.
The XF9C-1 (Navy serial number A8731) was ordered from Curtiss on June 30, 1930. It made its first flight in March of 1931. It had a metal monocoque fuselage and tail and fabric-covered metal-frame wings. The upper wing joined the fuselage at the top, giving the pilot an excellent upward view. Power was provided by a 420 hp Wright R-975C (J-6-9) Whirlwind radial engine. The high-pressure tires had no wheel pants or fairings.
XF9C-2 was the unofficial designation given to a second prototype built by Curtiss as a private venture. The engine was the 438 hp R-975E-3 engine, and it had a single-leg wire braced undercarriage and a four-inch-higher location for the upper wing that resulted in a more noticeable gull-wing effect at the fuselage. In addition, a set of wheel spats were fitted.
The Navy's small fighter concept did not ultimately prove successful, and the Sparrowhawk would have been abandoned along with its rivals had it not been for the appearance of an entirely new mission.
Contracts for two airships, the USS Akron and Macon had been issued on October 6, 1928, and it was intended from the start that these airships should be capable of carrying aircraft and launching and retrieving them while in flight. While the airships were under construction, however, plans for a suitable fighter to be carried by them lagged. The F9C, the best of the three competitors, was deemed to be the only high-performance type which was small enough to be carried aboard these airships.
The first airship docking tests were carried out with the prototype XF9C-1. The XF9C-1 was fitted with airship hook-on gear at the Naval Aircraft Factory and was transferred to Lakehurst, New Jersey for trials. It first hooked-on to the airship Los Angeles on October 17, 1931. Based on these tests, the Navy ordered six production versions of the XF9C-2 (designated F9C-2) in October 1931. Navy serial numbers were 9056/9061. The Navy then purchased the second prototype, and the XF9C-2 designation became official. The serial number 9264 was assigned to the XF9C-2. 9264 was later modified to full production standards, and it was redesignated just plain F9C-2.
As first flown on April 14, 1932, the first production F9C-2 (serial number 9056) was fitted with the single-leg XF9C-2 undercarriage. However, this undercarriage was soon changed to the earlier XF9C-1 tripod type, and the other F9C-2s were completed with the same type. After a short period in service, the vertical fin area of the F9C-2s was increased by adding a new rudder post eight inches aft of the original. The original high-pressure tires of the XF9C-1 were replaced by low-pressure types, and the wheels were enclosed in open-sided fairings.
The production F9C-2 was powered by the 438 hp Wright R-975E-3 Whirlwind radial engine, enclosed in an anti-drag ring. Maximum speed was 176.5 mph, and initial climb was 1690 feet per minute. Service ceiling was 19,200 feet. Range was 297 miles. Weights were 2117 pounds empty, 2779 lbs gross. Armament was a pair of 0.30-cal machine guns mounted in the upper fuselage deck, firing through the cylinder banks and synchronized to fire through the propeller arc.
The first F9C-2 made its first hook-on to the Akron on June 29, 1932. All six F9C-2s were delivered to the Navy in September 1932. The XF9C-1 and all six F9C-2s were originally assigned to the Akron, which was based at Lakehurst, New Jersey.
The airship could each carry up to four F9C-2s in an internal hangar, with one more Sparrowhawk suspended from an external station. The airplanes were fitted with a hook-on gear above the fuselage which enabled them to fly up under the airship and engage a trapeze at the bottom. Once firm contact was made, an arm on the trapeze would swing down to steady the rear fuselage. The aircraft would then be pulled up into the belly of the airship and stored in the hangar. Although the F9C-2s were popularly regarded as defensive fighters, their principal mission was to act as scouts to extend the effective operating area of the mother ships, which were themselves used as scouts.
Consolidated N2Y-1 two-seat trainers were used as "skyhook" trainers for pilots assigned to the Akron and the Macon. They were fitted with hook-on gear above the fuselage. These were later replaced by the Waco XJW-1 two-seat trainer, which was a modification of the Waco UBF commercial sport plane. These planes were also used to fly mail and passengers back and forth between the airships and the ground.
The Akron was lost at sea off New Jersey on April 4, 1933, but no airplanes were aboard the airship at that time. The Sparrowhawks were then transferred to the Macon, based at Moffett Field, California. They were later joined by the XF9C-2, which had been redesignated F9C-2.
In addition, the prototype XF9C-1 was assigned to the Macon as a spare. After brief service aboard the Macon, the XF9C-1 was transferred to the Naval Aircraft Factory and was scrapped there in January 1935.
On a few occasions when the Sparrowhawks were operating exclusively from the Macon without using land bases, they were flown without undercarriages. This reduced both weight and drag and allowed the installation of a streamlined auxiliary fuel tank under the fuselage which increased their range still further.
The Macon went down at sea off Point Sur, California on February 12, 1935. She took four F9C-2s with her (9058, 9059, 9060, and 9061) when she was destroyed. The loss of the second mother airship brought an abrupt end to the parasite fighter program.
The three F9C-2s that were not aboard the Macon when she went down were stripped of their hook-on gear and were redesignated XF9C-2. Two of them were scrapped at San Diego in 1936.
The sole surviving Sparrowhawk was reassigned to the Naval Air Station at Anacostia, Maryland. In 1939, it was given to the Smithsonian Institution, fitted with a replacement skyhook built for the purpose at the Naval Aircraft Factory, and put on display with an inaccurate color scheme. There seems to be some question as to which Sparrowhawk this is. Some sources say that it is actually the XF9C-2 (9264), but Dick Smith in his book on the Akron and the Macon claims that it really is 9056. The Museum of Naval Aviation says that the aircraft they have on display is actually a conglomerate of the XF9C-2 and 9056 and 9057.
Sources:
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Peter M. Bowers, Curtiss Aircraft, 1907-1947, Naval Institute
Press, 1987.
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Gordon Swanborough and Peter M. Bowers, United States Navy Aircraft
Since 1911, Naval Institute Press, 1990.
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William T. Larkins, US Navy Aircraft, 1921-1941, Orion Books, 1988.
- E-mail from Alexander Swaim on serial number of Sparrowhawk currently on display at NAS Pensacola.
