Curtiss Robin
by
Ron Peterka, NASA no. 869
He was an unknown pilot in the 'Golden Age' of aviation in the United States. He was a welder working for the Ryan Aviation Corp. and helped build the 'Spirit of St. Louis' for Charles Lindberg. He became famous as "Wrong Way Corrigan" when he successfully flew across the Atlantic Ocean from New York to Ireland in a heavily used single engine Curtiss Robin on July 17, 1938, some eleven years after Lindberg's famous flight.
Of course no one believed his explanation that "he had followed a faulty compass heading". Authorities in Ireland and the U.S. suspended his license and had his plane dismantled to be shipped home on a steamship. Perhaps it was coincidental that the suspension was for nearly the exact time it took to get the plane back to the United States. In any case, Corrigan was hailed as a hero upon his return and more than a million people gave him a ticker tape parade in New York honoring this pilot who had flown in the face of aviation authority.
Corrigan
flew his Curtiss around the U. S. for a few years and then disassembled it and
stored it in his garage in Southern California. He lived in self imposed
obscurity, never admitting to anything other than "a simple mistake caused
by a faulty compass" although he often said it with a smile and a wink.
About ten years ago Corrigan was approached and asked to show his plane in the Hawthorne Airport Air Fair, and surprisingly, he agreed. In fact, he offered to fly it around the pattern if promoters would pay for the fuel and oil it would take. He still had the leather jacket he had worn on his historic flight. Not surprisingly, the promoters refused the flight offer, but did get the aircraft reassembled, the original spark plugs cleaned, and the oil changed. With some fuel in the tanks it was actually run up and taxied at the air fair after all those years in storage with no maintenance at all.
A few years later Corrigan died with little notice, just the way he wanted it. In the San Diego Aerospace Museum you can see him in an autographed group picture of the workers who worked on the 'Spirit of St. Louis'.
The Robin
The Curtiss was a practical and simple aircraft designed for operations off any kind of surface. It was built mainly with either a 90 H.P. OX-5 V-8, or a 170 H.P. Curtiss "Challenger" radial engine. Corrigan's plane was fitted with the Curtiss.
Wing span was 41 feet and length was 25 1/2 feet. With the Challenger engine it was rated for 2600 lbs. gross weight. Cruise speed was 102 MPH with a 47 MPH landing speed.
A 1/5 scale model would have a 98 1/2 inch span, a 1/6 scale model an 82 inch span. I do not have any information on the current location of Corrigan's plane, or the exact color scheme. I don't even have his 'N' number available, but I do know that any modeler who plans a model of his plane will have to be really good at 'weathering' to make it look like the tired Curtiss that Corrigan flew.
A well restored Curtiss is on display at the Santa Monica Air Museum. Orange with yellow trim and the OX-5 engine if I recall correctly. Three views and photos are available for at least three different Robins through Scale Plans & Photos Service (910) 292-5239.
