ROBIN'S NEST
By James Haynes
As the first Rob i n of th e season brings you happiness in the knowledge that spring has come, so will your first Curti ss" Robin" thrill you with the realization that new comfort, luxury, safety and economy ha ve arrived in air transportation .
Q The Robin was the product of the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company, a giant among giants in the airplane manufacturing business during the I 920s. Curtiss was the leading manufacturer of military aircraft and the engines to power them. They had done little in the civil area until the country went crazy about flying after Charles Lind bergh's Atlantic flight in May, 1927. It was a corporate decision to enter the civil aircraft manufacturing field. One myth has it that Curtiss had in storage over 1,000 uncrated OX-5 engines and bins of parts, so the decision was motivated by a desire to get rid of this surplus by placing a low cost light cabin plane on the market and still re alize a profit. Lost in this is the fact that be fore Lindbergh 's flight, Curtiss already had the Challenger engine in the design stage, a powerplant intended for a light plane. Whatever the motivation, Clement Keyes, the chairman of Curtiss' Board and the of directors ordered the Curtiss design team of engineers to come forth with a light cabin monoplane capable of hauling up to three passengers and baggage. By late 1927, the Robin was undergoing wind tun nel testing at the Garden City, Long Island, 6 FEBRUARY 1997
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New York plant. Shortly after, on January I, 1928, it was an nounced that a new company, The Curtiss-Robertson Aeroplane and Motor Company had been formed and would manufacture the Robin in Anglum, Missouri, seven miles from St. Louis. Major William B. Robertson, president of Robertson Aircraft Company, became the new company's president, chairman and director. The groundbreaking took place on the 45,000 square foot plant on March I, 1928. It was completed by May. The first two Robins were built and tested at the Garden City plant in the spring of 1928. By the end of May, ATC #40 was assigned to the first Robin model, which was the OX-5 version. The jigs, tools and dies were then shipped to the St. Louis facility on what is now known as Lambert Field. The first production Robin rolled out of the factory on August 7, 1928. Coincidentally, ATC #62 was assigned to the Challenger powered Robin the following day. ATC # 143 was assigned in June, 1929 for the upgraded 185 hp Challenger C-I model Robin. The structural changes added about 150 pounds, but it did not seem to affect the performance. From that time until production ceased, there was about equal production ofOX-5 versus Challenger models. On September 5, 1929 , A TC #220 was assigned for the J-l model powered by the Wright J6-5 engine. There were less than 50 of these built. It was a deluxe model with extra options offered. Today there are some Robin B models that have been converted to the J6-5 configuration. There was an attempt to manufacture a four-place Robin, the 4C-IA ATC #3 09, to meet the competition of the Stinson Jr. This proved unsuccessful because the Challenger engine, besides im provements, did not obtain the desired performance. There were but few built. One is still in existence belonging to Elizabeth Nichols of Marion, North Carolina.
Buzz Kaplan's restored Curtiss Robin J6-5 was built up by Gary Underland and Buzz during the late 1980s. Originally built as a B model, it was converted to a B-2 model with a Tank engine in 1946. It later had a 220 hp Continental installed, before being restored to the J-1 model. This airplane has also been flown on Edo 2665 floats!