Curtiss YC-30 Condor
Here’s another $5.00 rescue kit I picked up at the bargain table at a contest awhile back, the Glencoe Curtiss Model T-32 Condor in 1:48. It’s kind of crude by today’s standards, but I wanted a Condor. It is my one and only build of a Glencoe kit so far. It had no decals or instructions and for some reason the kit had 2 sets of bottom wings. A friend scanned and e-mailed me a set of instructions and I decided to build it as a USAAC YC-30. I scrounged the decals from Yellow Wings and from my stash. I added a couple of MV lenses in the nose, as photos of the YC-30s had landing lights there. I painted it with Model Master paint and rigged it with flat wire from RB Productions. I wouldn’t recommend it as a first biplane build!
The first Curtiss Condor was the B-2 bomber (Model 52). In 1928 Curtiss converted a B-2 into a passenger airliner with an enclosed cockpit and cabin, designated as Curtiss Model 53 Condor, also known as the Curtiss 18 Condor (for 18 passengers, not to be confused with the Curtiss Model 18, which was a triplane fighter)) or the Curtiss CO. It was powered by a pair of Curtiss GV-1570 liquid cooled V-12 Conqueror engines of 635 HP and sported a twin vertical tail with biplane horizontal stabilizers and elevators. A total of 6 were built, 3 were converted B-2 Bombers and 3 were built new. The first flight was in June of 1929. Sales to the airlines were unsuccessful, as the Ford and Fokker tri-motor monoplanes were in use and were faster.
The Condor II (Model T-32) was a step up, a 2-bay biplane with a single conventional vertical stabilizer and rudder, and air-cooled Wright SGR-1829 radial engines of 720 HP. The prototype first flew in January of 1933. the first production batch of 21 Condor IIs were built as 12-passenger luxury night sleepers. They entered service with Eastern Air Transport and American Airways.
In the spring of 1933, the U.S. Army Air Corps tested the prototype Curtiss T-32 Condor II transport. During the early 1930s, the Army General Staff still believed that a large biplane was more reliable than a monoplane aircraft, so two T-32 transports were purchased with the designation YC-30. The first YC-30 (S/N 33-320) was received by the Air Corps on 12 May 1933. Both planes were initially used as VIP transports and then as regular staff transports until withdrawn from service in 1938
The Condor was slow, rarely achieving it’s cruising speed of 145 MPH and was prone to icing, but passengers loved the luxurious comfort of the 18-passenger day and 14 berth night sleepers that the competition lacked on TWA or United at the time. It served as a comfortable transition between the biplanes and the all-metal monoplanes (Ford Tri-Motor, Boeing 247, and Douglas DC-2)
Of the 45 Condor IIs produced, in addition to American Airways and Eastern Air Transport they wore the colors of several airlines in Europe and South America. They also served in military roles with the Army Air Corps (2 ea. YC-30), the Navy and Marines (1 ea. R4C-1) in the US, and with the militaries of Argentina, China, Colombia, Honduras, and Peru, among others.
You lucky man...what a great find! It looks great as well!
Well done! A real eye catcher.
Great looking build of what I am sure was a difficult build. It really turned out quite nice and I like the scheme. Well done!
Big, Bold and BLUE!
Beauty build Chas, it's like picking up a rescue pup that grows up and becomes a show winner.
Not my scale but I love your build, well done!
Interesting topic and a great build, Chas.
Wow! Beautiful! The kit may be crude but your build certainly isn't, Chas @chasbunch.
Excellent model, and quite interesting colors. I knew that the U. S. Navy had colorful pre-war machines, but it seems that the army also had them.
I have never seen this kit built so nicely. Well done Chas!
Wow, Chas - you're one of the few guys to ever conquer the Condor! Looks great.
A really slick build! Gotta love the unusual subjects, especially when constructed from sub-par kits.
Nice work on what is a difficult build. You've produced a superb replica.
Nice work, Chas.
Such a wonderful result, Chas @chasbunch
You can never go wrong with such a bargain of just $5.
Well done.
Excellent job on the crude Glencoe kit, Chas!
What's not to love about this old bird. Fantastic build and finish.
Excellent!
Outstanding