Among the oldest aircraft in our collection is the Curtiss-Wright CW-1 Junior. The Junior
was to be an affordable aircraft, roughly the cost of the average car. Curtiss-Robertson Airplane
Manufacturing designed it with the intent of competing with other affordable sports aircraft such
as the Aeronca C-2 or the American Eagle Eaglet. The Junior made its first flight in 1930 and
arrived on the market in 1931, shortly after the parent company, Curtiss, merged into Curtiss
Wright. This gave the Junior the designation CW-1 as it was the first aircraft of the new Curtiss-
Wright Corporation. The CW-1’s unique design garnered early success for the aircraft, selling
270 models for just under $1,500 each. That is roughly $31,000 per aircraft today, significantly
less than the price of a new car.
The key to the CW-1’s unique design is the seldom used pusher propeller orientation. The
radial engine, a three-cylinder Szekely SR-3, rests on top of the wings with the propeller pointed
to the rear of the aircraft to push the plane rather than pull as most propeller aircraft do. The push
engine was comparable to its pull engine counterparts in terms of power output but came with
some significant flaws that would see the CW-1’s success be short-lived. For starters, the Szekely
SR-3 had an unfortunate tendency to throw a cylinder due to the lightweight aircraft vibrating so
aggressively. Being a pusher-oriented engine, any thrown cylinder would be sent through the
propeller and cause catastrophic damage. Another problem stemmed from the location of the
propeller. With the CW-1 so low to the ground and the propeller being in a location people where
people were not conditioned to expect it, it was all too common for passengers and pilots alike to
walk into the propeller resulting in serious injury and often death.
Although these flaws did end the success of the CW-1, a handful are still in use today.
Many are owned by museums such as ours while others are owned by private collectors. A trick
learned early on was to use a steel cable to hold any cylinders in place, should they be thrown,
and with proper safety precautions, the propeller would be far less of a threat. These two
adjustments make the CW-1 a much more viable aircraft with a fascinating story.
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