Curtiss Model J

The Curtiss Model J was a two-seat prototype biplane with the engine in the nose driving a tractor propeller, in place of the pusher layout of earlier Curtiss machines. It was designed by Benjamin D. Thomas, whom Glenn Curtiss hired away from Sopwith, and the first prototype was rolled out on 12 March 1914 and delivered to the Signal Corps that July, when the whole United States military air fleet numbered 23 aircraft. The upper wing was much longer than the lower and carried the ailerons. In 1914 it set an American climb record and became the fastest aircraft in the country at 85.7 mph. The Model J Signal Corps number 30 became the testing prototype for the JN series, the first Jenny.