Curtiss F11C/BFC and BF2C Book Review

By Michael Benolkin

Review

Here is the eleventh installment of the Allied Wings series from RAF-in-Combat, this covering the Curtiss-built fighters and attack aircraft produced for the US Navy prior to World War II. Curtiss had been a principal maker of fighter aircraft for the US Navy prior to World War II, but with the introduction of the Boeing F4B into service, Curtiss was losing its foothold with its Navy customer. The F11C was an attempt to one-up the F4B but the Navy saw this as just an update to an old design rather than something new. The F11C was converted into a dive bomber and redesignated as BFC and in an attempt to improve on the BFC, the BF2C was not well-received and Curtiss was out of the Navy fighter business.

This title looks at the operational record of the handful of F11C/BFC aircraft delivered to the Navy both by Squadron and by serial number. This title continues the new layout to better present the vast information that has been researched.

The title is nicely illustrated with color profiles of representative aircraft from the squadron, photos of many of the pilots and men assigned to F11C/BFC2, as well as period photographs of squadron aircraft. The title also includes 13 color profiles and an explanation of the squadron color codes used by the yellow-winged aircraft of that period.

The format of this title is very well done and provides the aviation historian and modeler alike with excellent information to answer questions or as a starting point for further research. This title is highly recommended and I certainly hope to see many more in this format in the future!

My sincere thanks to Phil H. Listemann for the review sample.