Curtiss PN-1

One of the first fighter types constructed an order, and again one of the types of an order nenavržených (like Orenco D, but which the factory has brought considerably more money). PN-1 originated in the technical department of the army air forces (Engineering Division) and featured a single representative in 1919 created the category of night fighter aircraft PN (alongside the "main" fighter-categories - fighters with water-cooled engine PW, and tank with air cooled engine PA). The construction was ordered 23.February 1920. As you can see on the wings, he was strongly influenced by the structures , the Fokker D.VII. Powered by was an ordinary six-cylinder Liberty, the direct predecessor of the much more successful dvanáctiválce Liberty 12A. The first machine was completed with samonosnými wings, but failed static tests on McCook Field in December of 1920 led to their complement on the other machine. Due to the contemporary possibilities of the equipment for night fighting, apparently meant only to exhaust stretched up behind the pilot cabin and the enlightenment of the onboard instruments. To facilitate the operation of the small clouded by airports should also help the construction of the wings with a small surface load.

The second machine was probably handed over to the army air force in August 1921, when perhaps also undergoing flight tests. On PN-1, however, there is a lot of confusion, different authors differ in whether they were ordered three machines or only two (reported serialy are 63276, 63277, and perhaps 63278 or 63275, photographically documented only the first of them), respectively, if they were completed two or only one, which was not fly, but due to the fact that 63276 should be excluded from the assets of the air force in January 1926 it is likely the completion of the two machines, as mentioned above.

In any case, the PN-1 was not a successful design, the test machine should barely reach speeds at that time already common for bombers, which had prosecuted, and in December 1921 was of further work on the PN-1 terminated. There was not any other machine in this category - for it indeed was not even the reason, when essentially the same result was in this period of time to achieve small adjustments to the standard operational jet..