Starting in 1925 with the P-1, Curtiss built a long series of fighters carrying the name "Hawk." Of the eight different P-6 models produced, the P-6E remains the best known. Originally designated the Y1P-22, the U.S. Army Air Corps re-designated this aircraft the P-6E because of its similarity to the other P-6s. Curtiss delivered 46 P-6E Hawks, the last biplane fighter built in quantity for the Air Corps. Never used in combat, the P-6E is recognized as one of the most beautiful aircraft of the 1930s.

The only original P-6E still in existence, this P-6E appears in the colors and markings of the airplane assigned to Capt. Ross G. Hoyt, Commanding Officer of the 17th Pursuit Squadron, 1st Pursuit Group, based at Selfridge Field, Mich. in 1933. Edward S. Perkins of Anniston, Ala., donated it to the museum, and the Department of Aviation Technology at Purdue University restored it in 1963.curtis P-6e

It had a cruising speed of 167 mph and a ceiling of 24,400 feet