F9C SparrowhawkCurtiss F9C Sparrowhawk airplane model. The Curtiss F9C 2 Sparrowhawks that operated from U. S. Navy airships during the early 1930s were used to test one of the more imaginative ideas in aviation history. These colorful Navy fighters, petite and pleasing in design, captured the imagination of all who saw them. They were deployed with the U. S. S. Akron and Macon, turning these airships into flying aircraft carriers. The Sparrowhawks' aerial trapeze