This piece originally ran in the November 2021 issue of EAA Sport Aviation magazine.
Developed in the mid-1920s as the successor to the company’s popular D-12, the Curtiss Conqueror was a liquid-cooled V-12 engine with a displacement of approximately 1,570 cubic inches. Produced for both geared and direct-drive applications, the 600-hp Conqueror was used in a variety of aircraft, from single-engine fighters like the Curtiss P-6 Hawk and the lesser-known Lockheed-Detroit YP-24 up to bomber prototypes like the Douglas Y1B-7 and the Boeing YB-9. In addition, the massive German Dornier Do X was ultimately refitted with no less than a dozen of the big V-12s.