Curtiss P-36 Hawk in memory of my Grandpa

Grandpa this article is for you.

My Grandpa died forty years ago. If I have not said this before, I believe that I got the aviation bug from Grandpa. He was aeronautical engineer in the late 20s into the early 50s when he switched careers to teach ninth grade mathematics

He did not talk a lot about his career as an aeronautical engineer, and I knew not to push. One of the last conversations we had was about aviation. I don't quite recall what we talked about, but we had a great time. And I remember that he lit up. So, that is how I want to remember my Grandpa.

I'd like to think that he is smiling at me from the great beyond and understands my love of aviation and this blog.

I do happen to have a copy of his college alumni records where he listed his places of employment. I had been meaning to poke around on the internet to see where he was working prior to World War II when he was working for Lockheed Aircraft in Burbank CA. He worked for Curtiss-Wright in Buffalo New York from 1932 to 1936. So, I went to the Curtiss-Wright Website to see if I could find out what they were doing during the period when Grandpa was working there. Curtiss-Wright has a history page. Clicking on the link for 1929 to 1938 revealed that they worked on the Curtiss P-36 Hawk as well as designing and building the 9-cylinder Wright engines for the Boeing B-17. Now I have absolutely no idea what he did at Curtiss-Wright. When I wrote my about the B-17, I had not considered where my Grandpa was working for I would have at least mentioned Grandpa in an appropriate article. Oh well.

The Curtiss P-36 Hawk was a single-seat monoplane fighter that was operated prior to and during World War II. She had one Wright R-1820-G205A Cyclone piston radial engine. She was capable of a maximum speed of 322 mph or 280 knots. See this Military Factory article for more information about the specifications. I found a fourteen minute historical video on Youtube about the production of the Curtiss P-36, those of you who are interested may go here to watch this video. At 10:44 you may watch them put the engine in.

Here are two short videos you might enjoy. The first video is two minutes of footage from a 1939 newsreel highlighting Buffalos role in aircraft production


Direct link to video on Youtube

The second video is footage of a restored Curtiss P-36 on her inaugural flight prior to the 2015 Legends Airshow.


Direct link to video on Youtube