TheCurtiss Autoplane (also designatedCurtiss Model 11) invented byGlenn Curtiss in 1917, is widely considered the first attempt to build aroadable aircraft.[1] Although the vehicle was capable of lifting off the ground, it never achieved full flight.[2]
The Autoplane was atriplane, using the wings from aCurtiss Model L trainer, with a small foreplane mounted on the aircraft's nose.[3] The Autoplane'saluminum body resembled aModel T and had three seats in an enclosed cabin, with the pilot/chauffeur sitting in the front seat and the two passengers side-by side to the rear.[4] It used a four-bladepusher propeller, and a twin-boom tail. A 100 horsepower (75 kW)Curtiss OXX engine drove the propeller via shaft and belts.[5][6] The aircraft had a four-wheel undercarriage, with the front two wheels being steerable. The wings and tail could be detached for use as an automobile.[7][8]
It was shown at the Pan-American Aeronautic Exposition atNew York City in February 1917. It made a few short hops before theentry of the United States intoWorld War I in April 1917 ended development of the Autoplane.[9]
^"Glenn Curtiss Sees a Vision of Aviation's Future",Popular Science, July 1927
^Espinoza, Javier (15 September 2011), "An Idea Without Wings; Progress has been made, but the idea of cruising at altitude over the afternoon rush-hour is far from becoming a reality",Wall Street Journal, p. R.4
^Glines, C V; Wilkinson, Stephan (September 2008), "The Road Not Taken",Aviation History,19 (1):38–45
