Curtiss Model F

The Curtiss Models F made up a family of early flying boats developed in the United States in the years leading up to World War I.

In configuration, these were biplane flying boats powered by a single engine mounted amongst the interplane struts and driving a pusher propeller.

In Italy, the Curtiss representative Enea Bossi secured rights for local license-production of the Type F by the Zari brothers, who built eight examples at their workshop in Bovisa, Milan.

The Model F was adopted by Regia Marina on the battleship Dante Alighieri, cruisers Amalfi and San Marco, and the seaplane tender Elba.

The aircraft flew routes out of Miami and Nassau in the winter months and returned to upstate New York for maintenance and barnstorming in the summer.

First successful flight of the Curtiss Flying Fish over Keuka Lake , July 1912. [ 1 ]
Marshall Earle Reid at Lake Keuka in his Curtiss seaplane, 1912. Note the step in the hull.
Gustave Maurice Heckscher in his Curtiss seaplane at 60 miles per hour, 1912.
Curtiss MF NC903 on display at the Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre in 2017