F6C-2 Curtiss Fighters Simulated Attack
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OCTOBER 22--In a display of tactics developed by VF Squadron 2, Lieutenant Commander F. D. Wagner led the F6C-2 Curtiss fighters in a simulated attack on the heavy ships of the Pacific Fleet as they sortied from San Pedro. Coming down in almost vertical dives from 12,000 feet at the exact time of which the fleet had been forewarned, the squadron achieved complete surprise and so impressed fleet and ship commanders with the effectiveness of their spectacular approach that there was unanimous agreement that such an attack would succeed over any defense. This was the first fleet demonstration of dive-bombing and although the tactic had been worked out by the demonstrating squadron in an independently initiated project, the obvious nature of the solution to the problem of effective bomb delivery was evident in that the same tactic was similarly and simultaneously being developed by VF Squadron 5 on the east coast. |
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The Curtiss F6C Hawk was a late 1920s United States naval biplane fighter aircraft. It was part of the long line of Curtiss Hawk airplanes built by the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company for the American military. Originally designed for land-based use, the Model 34C was virtually identical to the P-1 Hawk in United States Army Air Corps service. The United States Navy ordered 9, but as the sixth example was built it was strengthened for carrierborne operations and redesignated as the Model 34D. Flown from the carriers Langley and Saratoga from 1927 to 1930, most of the later variants passed to Marine fighter-bomber units, while a few were flown for a time as twin-float seaplane
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