U.S. Navy variants were used initially as fighter-bombers with the designation F8C Falcon, then as the first U.S. Marine Corps dive bombers with the name Helldiver.

[1] The aircraft was a conventional unequal-span biplane design with wooden wings, while the fuselage was built using aluminum tubing with steel tie rod bracing.

[2] The landing gear was fixed and the tail included a balanced rudder with a rear skid originally, later changed to a tailwheel.

The type was featured in multiple Hollywood films: Flight (1929), Hell Divers (1932) and King Kong (1933).

Two non-flying replicas were built for King Kong (2005) Curtiss Falcon aircraft fought during the Brazil Constitutionalist Revolution of 1932, under the flag of São Paulo.