Glen Curtiss,1878-1930, was an inventor and motorcycle enthusiast who held the speed record of over 100 mph.
When he became interest in airplanes his experience was useful. The result was the Curtiss Model D, introduced in 1911. The model D was a pusher biplane with the single propeller and Curtiss-built engine mounted behind the pilot. Its wood frame had tricycle wheels. After losing a patent fight with the Write brothers over roll control by wing warping, Curtiss designed ailerons as winglets between the main wings. Early versions of the plane used front mounted elevators to control pitch. At the rear the Model D had a rudder and horizontal stabilizer supported by a bamboo framework. After a landing accident in race where the elevators were damaged, they were moved to the horizontal stabilizer at the tail; a new configuration commonly known as the Curtiss Headless Pusher.
The pilot used three flight controls and a foot brake that activated a claw to dig into the e sod of a landing strip to slow the plane. Yaw (turning right and left) was controlled by the rudder connected to the pilot’s wheel. Pitch (nose up or down) was controlled by the elevators connected to the vertical column. Roll (turning horizontally around the nose-tail axes) was managed, as on a motorcycle, by the pilot leaning right or left against a shoulder rail connected to the ailerons.
A note on modelling: There are many different images on the internet of various reproduction and restorations of the Curtiss Headless Pusher. With as little ”artistic license” as possible, I based the model on the Curtiss D III powered by a Curtiss Model K four cylinder, water cooled engine.
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