Talk:Curtiss Falcon

number built

The figure given, though sourced, appears to be grossly inaccurate. 347 (by assigned serial numbers) appear to have been built for the Air Corps alone, in addition to the 20 civil, 100 USN/USMC Helldivers, and 16-116 export versons. After the first 20, which were modified on the production line, the Air Corps A-3s were production built, not modifications of previously ordered O-1s. A much larger total figure for the Falcons seems a more likely figure.--Reedmalloy (talk) 10:37, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

Engine research needed

There are a number of engine refrences in this page that need research. --Colputt 21:27, 29 April 2007 (UTC)

King Kong

Is it correct that the aircraft featured in King Kong are O2C Helldivers? Drutt 17:45, 8 July 2007 (UTC)

That might very well be, either Helldivers or Hawk IIIs.--The4sword 01:16, 28 October 2007 (UTC)

The Hawk III only had 1 crewman.--Longestpants (talk) 03:23, 13 January 2008 (UTC)

Variants

I've added information about the O2C to the list of variants (source), though it's still incomplete and could use some more work.Drutt (talk) 20:01, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

The F8C and Ju-87

Interesting excerpt from Fighter by Len Deighton:

In the USA, in September 1933, Ernst Udet watched a flying demonstration of Curtiss F8C biplanes. These, were rather old by American standards and the Americans had no objection to Udet's buying them. The Curtiss company called this design a "Helldiver' and gave the same name to all their subsequent dive-bomber designs. Although the exact way in which Udet found enough money to buy two such machines has not been established, it seems virtually certain that on Udet's recommendation, Goring paid money into Udet's bank account, and the aircraft, when shipped to Germany, were tested for the new air force. The concept of aircraft using machine guns and small bombs against front-line infantry had been discussed by German theorists since the First World War. Now Udet demonstrated his Helldivers, and the accuracy of this sort of bombing attack - within 30 yards of the target was not unusual for an expert pilot - persuaded the German Air Ministry to ask Junkers and other companies to design such a machine. The Junkers Ju 87, the famous Stuka, was the result. It became the world's most successful dive bomber.

Drutt (talk) 21:02, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Finland

Authoritative, modern sources (e.g., Heinonen & Valtonen: Albatrossista Pilatukseen. 2010) on the Finnish Air Force do not mention this, so there is no reason to believe that the Curtiss Falcon would ever have been used in Finland. Somanyaircraft (talk) 16:45, 21 December 2023 (UTC)

The apparent source of the addition - [1] appears to be an alternative history of Finland and as such doesn't appear to be a reliable source for real historical events. I've tagged Finnish Air Force with a citation needed tag for nowNigel Ish (talk) 10:16, 22 December 2023 (UTC)

I've asked on the WP:MILHIST talkpage as well.Nigel Ish (talk) 10:23, 22 December 2023 (UTC)