Designed to meet a lightweight shipboard fighter requirement - other contenders being the Berliner Joyce XFJ-1 and General Aviation XFA-1 - the XF9C-1 was flown on 12 February 1931. It failed to gain acceptance as a carrier-based aircraft, but its small dimensions commended it for use from the dirigibles Akron and Macon whfch had been designed with internal hangar bays. The XF9C-1 was subsequently fitted with the so-called "skyhook" which engaged the retractable trapeze carried by the dirigibles. Some directional instability resulting from the hook dictated the enlarging of the vertical tail surfaces. A second prototype, the XF9C-2 with single-strut main undercarriage members, was built at Curtiss' expense prior to the placing of a US Navy contract for six F9C-2s which featured a similar tripod undercarriage strut arrangement to that of the XF9C-1. The XF9C-2 was later purchased by the US Navy and modified to F9C-2 standard. The F9C-2 was powered by a 438hp Wright R-975-E3 radial engine and carried an armament of two 7.62mm Browning machine guns. Originally intended to provide fighter protection for the dirigibles, the F9C-2s were used primarily to extend the reconnaissance capabilities of the parent craft. The Macon was lost on 12 February 1935, together with four of the F9C-2s.

3-View

A three-view drawing of F9C-2 (1280 x 996)