Curtiss Model J
The Curtiss Model J (along with the Curtiss Model N) was a prototype tractor configuration aircraft that became the basis for the Curtiss Jenny series of aircraft. Development. The Curtiss J was designed by Benjamin D. Thomas. Glenn Curtiss hired Thomas from the Sopwith Aviation Company while on a trip to London, England. He started designing the Model J while overseas, and is also credited with helping design the Model N and the Model H "America". The first flight tests were performed without fuselage covering. In February 1914, after a series of accidents with pusher aircraft, the  U.S. Army held a meeting in San Diego expressing interest in tractor design aircraft such as the Model J Design. The Model J had the engine mounted on the nose of the aircraft with a tractor propeller and was covered with clear doped linen or cotton, with tandem seating and conventional landing gear with a tailskid. The biplane wings were built without dihedral and the upper wing was considerably greater in span than the lower and fitted with ailerons. The Curtiss Model J S.C. No. 30 became the testing prototype for the JN, earning the title as the first "Jenny