Verville VCP The Verville VCP was an American single - engined biplane fighter aircraft of the 1920s . A single example of the VCP - 1 was built by the United States Army Air Service ' s Engineering Division , which was later rebuilt into a successful racing aircraft , while a second , modified fighter was built as the PW - 1 . Design and development . VCP - 1 . In 1918 , Virginius E . Clark , in charge of the Plane Design section of the U . S . Army Air Service ' s Engineering Division and Alfred V . Verville , who had recently joined the Engineering Division from private industry , started design of a single - seat fighter ( known as " pursuit " aircraft to the U . S . Army ) , the VCP - 1 ( Verville - Clark Pursuit ) . Drawing from the experience of the French and their SPAD S . XIII , the desire was to make a sleeker and more maneuverable fighter . The VCP - 1 was powered by a Wright - built Hispano - Suiza 8 V - 8 engine and had tapered single - bay biplane wings . The fuselage was a monocoque structure constructed of plywood , while the wings were of wood and fabric construction . The engine was cooled with an unusual annular radiator . Two were built , but only one was flown , making its maiden flight on June 11 , 1920 . The aircraft demonstrated good performance , reaching , but the radical annular radiator was unsuccessful , having to be replaced to a more conventional unit . Because of its performance , it was decided to modify the VCP - 1 to a racing aircraft , replacing the Wright - Hispano engine with a Packard 1A - 2025 V12 engine , becoming the VCP - R ( later again rebuilt as the Verville R - 1 Racer ) . PW - 1 . In 1920 , work commenced on two new fighter aircraft based on the VCP - 1 , featuring an easier to build fabric covered steel - tube fuselage instead of the plywood monocoque of the VCP - 1 . The aircraft retained the tapered wings of the VCP - 1 and was powered by a Packard 1A - 1237 engine , cooled by a tunnel - style radiator located under the engine . The new design was initially known as the VCP - 2 , but was soon resignated as PW - 1 ( Pursuit , Water - Cooled ) in the U . S . Army Air Service ' s new designation system . The first aircraft was used for static testing , while the second prototype flew in November 1921 , reaching a speed of . It was rebuilt later that year with a new untapered set of wings using a Fokker style thick airfoil , becoming the PW - 1A , but performance was reduced , and the aircraft was refitted with its original wings , reverting to the designation PW - 1 . While plans were prepared for more powerful versions fitted with revised wings , no production ensued . Operational History . The VCP - R made its racing debut at the 1920 Gordon Bennett Cup race held at Étampes near Paris on 28 September . Its radiator proved to be insufficient to deal with the powerful , high - compression Packard engine , however , and it retired after the first lap . It was taken back to the U . S . and quickly modified with a larger radiator for entry in the Pulitzer Trophy air - race , held at Mineola , New York on 25 November that year . This time it was successful , winning the race at a speed of . The U . S . Armed Forces did not compete in the 1921 Pulitzer Trophy race , but for the 1922 race the VCP - R was fitted with a revised tail , becoming the R - 1 . It finished in sixth place at a speed of .