| Klaatu83, e-mail, 31.10.2015 05:22 This was the last Thomas-Morse design and was actually completed after the company was taken over by Consolidated Aircraft. It was a failure, partly because Consolidated wasn't really much interested in pursuing the project, but mostly because the engine shown in the photo above, the experimental Curtiss H-1640 "Chieftain" engine, proved to be a failure, due mainly to cooling problems. That unusual engine was a 12-cylinder air-cooled unit in which two rows of six cylinders were arranged in a the shape of a hexagon. The airplane was eventually re-built with a Pratt and Whitney "Wasp" air-cooled radial engine, which improved the airplane's performance, but the Army was more interested in fighters powered by liquid-cooled engines, so no production orders were forthcoming. reply |
