The Curtiss-Wright CW-12 Sport Trainer and CW-16 Light Sport (also marketed under the Travel Air brand that Curtiss-Wright had recently acquired) are high-performance training aircraft designed by Herbert Rawdon and Ted Wells and built in the United States in the early 1930s.
Development The CW-12 and CW-16 shared the same basic design as conventional single-bay biplanes with staggered wings braced with N-struts. The pilot and instructor sat in tandem, open cockpits, the forward cockpit of the CW-12 having a single seat, while the CW-16's forward cockpit could seat two passengers side-by-side. Both versions of the aircraft were available in a variety of engine choices, and some CW-16s were exported as trainers to the air forces of Bolivia and Ecuador.
Variants
CW-12 CW-12K - version powered by Kinner K-5 engine. Two built.Bowers 1979, p.402. CW-12Q - version powered by Wright-built de Havilland Gipsy. 26 built. CW-12W - version powered by Warner Scarab. 12 built + 1 replica
CW-16 CW-16E - version powered by Wright J-6 Whirlwind 5 engine. (10 built).Bowers 1979, p. 408. CW-16K - version powered by Kinner B-5 engine (11 built). CW-16W - version powered by Warner Scarab engine (1 built).
Operators Civil owners in USA and United Kingdom
Argentine Navy purchased 15 CW-16Es in 1935, with 13 more possibly being built from 1938. The type remained in use until 1949.Hagedorn Air Enthusiast March to May 1992, p. 76.
Bolivian Air Force purchased three CW-16s in 1934, with the type in use until 1943.
Brazilian Air Force received 15 CW-16Ws, with Warner Scarab engines in 1935, the type remaining in service until 1940.
Colombian Air Force received six CW-16s in 1933.Hagedorn Air Enthusiast March to May 1992, p. 75.
Ecuadorian Air Force purchased six CW-16Es in 1935, with three more CW-16s following in 1936. Three remained in use until 1944.Hagedorn Air Enthusiast March to May 1992, pp. 75–76.
Specifications (CW-12Q)
References
Citations
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