Development
Following the armistice, the incentives to produce a fighter eventually deviated toward evaluating the prospective applications of a highly unique concept. Upon review of numerous proposals, the Aeronautics Division of the U.S. Bureau of Engineering referred recommendations to the Chief of Naval Operations in which to finalize approval of a submission by the Naval Aircraft Factory (NAF) with which to produce a pre-production series of four prototypes at an estimated construction cost of $84,680.
Accordingly, the NAF proposal consisted of a twin-engine flying boat which featured a hull design identical to that of the Curtiss NC-1, an armament of four flexible mounting Lewis machine guns, and four crew members. An egg-like nacelle atop the upper wing housed an additional pilot/gunner's position. Initially designated as Twin Fighter (TF), a review of the aircraft's dimensions showed that the wingspan was insufficient for a conventional two-engine layout. Thus, the Bureau of Engineering revised the engine configuration into a tractor/pusher combination mounted on the aircraft centerline. This change altered the designation from Twin to Tandem fighter. The TF was designed to incorporate two Curtiss-built 400 hp (300 kW) Kirkham inline engines, however mechanical problems hindered the development of these power plants, so two 300 hp (220 kW) Hispano Suiza engines were adopted instead.
Read more about this topic: Naval Aircraft Factory TF
Famous quotes containing the word development:
“Such condition of suspended judgment indeed, in its more genial development and under felicitous culture, is but the expectation, the receptivity, of the faithful scholar, determined not to foreclose what is still a question—the “philosophic temper,” in short, for which a survival of query will be still the salt of truth, even in the most absolutely ascertained knowledge.”
—Walter Pater (1839–1894)
“This was the Eastham famous of late years for its camp- meetings, held in a grove near by, to which thousands flock from all parts of the Bay. We conjectured that the reason for the perhaps unusual, if not unhealthful development of the religious sentiment here, was the fact that a large portion of the population are women whose husbands and sons are either abroad on the sea, or else drowned, and there is nobody but they and the ministers left behind.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“I do seriously believe that if we can measure among the States the benefits resulting from the preservation of the Union, the rebellious States have the larger share. It destroyed an institution that was their destruction. It opened the way for a commercial life that, if they will only embrace it and face the light, means to them a development that shall rival the best attainments of the greatest of our States.”
—Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901)