02/13/2011. Remarks by Jack McKillop: "The Hawk III was an export version of the Curtiss Model 67A designated BF2C-1 by the USN. The Model 67A was a biplane fighter-bomber that was originally designated XF11C-3 but production aircraft were redesignated BF2C-1 when the Bomber-Fighter type category was established in 1934. (Today we would call that Fighter-Bomber.)

The BF2C-1 was a single-seat aircraft with a semi-enclosed cockpit, a hand-operated retractable landing gear and powered by a 750 hp Wright R-1820-4 nine-cylinder, single-row, air-cooled radial engine. The aircraft could carry a single bomb weighting up to 500 lbs (227 kg) beneath the fuselage in a special crutch which swung down for release preventing the bomb from hitting the propeller. The one feature of the aircraft that doomed it was the metal structure instead of fabric covered wings. The wings did not fit well with the rest of the airframe and as a result caused violent vibrations.

The USN ordered 27 BF2C-1s on February 26, 1934 and the first was delivered on October 7, 1934. The Goshawks were issued to Bombing Squadron Five Battle Force (VB-5B) serving in the aircraft carrier USS Ranger (CV-4) but only served a short time because of the vibrations and trouble with the landing gear. These were replaced by Boeing F4B-4s in mid-1935. This was the last Curtiss fighter ordered by the USN.

Curtiss then developed the aircraft for export by removing the metal clad wings and replacing it with afabric covered wing. A total of 138 Model 68 Hawk IIIs were produced:

1 24 102 10 1

68A Curtiss-owned demonstrator.   68B to Siam (now Thailand) delivered between August 1935 and February 1936.   68C to China delivered between March 1936 and June 1938.   unknown models to Argentina delivered in May and June 1936.   unknown model to Turkey.

The Hawk III in the photo is a replica of one of the 102 Hawk IIIs sold to China. It is painted in the markings of the commander of the 4th Group, Chinese Air Force in 1937. This officer shot down a Japanese Mitsubishi G3M2 Model 21, Navy Type 96 Attack Bomber (assigned the Allied Code Name 'Nell' in 1942) over Nanking, China on July 14, 1937. This was the first Japanese aircraft shot down by a Chinese pilot during the Second Sino-Japanese War."