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The 1911 Curtiss Model D (or frequently, "Curtiss Pusher") was an early United States pusher aircraft with the engine and propeller behind the pilot's seat. It was among the very first aircraft in the world to be built in any quantity — all of which were produced during an era of trial-and-error development and equally important parallel technical development in internal combustion engine technologies. It was also the aircraft type which made the first takeoff from the deck of a ship (flown by Eugene B. Ely off the deck of the USS ''Birmingham'' on November 14, 1910, near Hampton Roads, Virginia) and made the first landing aboard a ship (the USS ''Pennsylvania'') on January 18, 1911, near San Francisco, California. It was originally fitted with a foreplane for pitch control, but this was dispensed with when it was accidentally discovered to be unnecessary. The new version without the foreplane was known as the Headless Pusher.〔Casey 1981, pp. 73–95.〕 Like all Curtiss designs, the aircraft used ailerons derived from the 1908 June Bug to control rolling in flight, thus avoiding use of the Wright brothers' patented wing warping technology. ==Development== The Model D was a biplane fitted with a wheeled tricycle undercarriage. The construction was primarily of spruce, with ash used in parts of the engine bearers and undercarriage beams, with doped linen stretched over it. The outrigger beams were made of bamboo.〔Jarrett 2002, p. 154.〕 Prevented by patents from using the Wright Brothers' wing warping technique to provide lateral control, and with neither the Wrights nor himself likely to have known about its prior patenting in 1868 England, Curtiss used ailerons, instead. In the end, this proved to be a superior solution. Almost all Model Ds were constructed with a pusher configuration, with the propeller behind the pilot. Because of this configuration, they were often referred to as the "Curtiss Pusher". Early examples were built in a canard configuration, with elevators mounted on struts at the front of the aircraft in addition to a horizontal stabilizer at the rear. Later, the elevators were incorporated into the tail unit, and the canard surface arrangement dispensed with, resulting in what became called the Curtiss "Headless" Pushers. In addition to amateur aviators, a Model D was purchased in April 1911 by the Aeronautical Division of the U.S. Army Signal Corps as a trainer (S.C. No. 2), and by the Navy as an airborne observation platform. A number of them were exported to foreign militaries, as well, including the Russian Navy. On November 14, 1910, Eugene Ely took off from the USS ''Birmingham'' in a Model D. This was the first time an aircraft had taken off from a ship.〔 On January 18, 1911, Ely landed a Model D aboard the USS ''Pennsylvania''. This was the first aircraft to land on a ship. Upon his election in November 1915, Congressman Orrin Dubbs Bleakley became the first government official to fly from his home state to DC. The trip was made in a 75 hp (56 kW) Curtiss biplane from Philadelphia, piloted by Sergeant William C. Ocker, on leave from the United States Aviation Corps at the time. The trip took 3¼ hours, including an unscheduled stop in a wheat field in Maryland.〔"The Changing Scene, Vol. I, VCHS". ''Venango County Historical Society'', Venango County, Franklin Pennsylvania, 2000, pp. 127–128.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Curtiss Model D」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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