 Because war production deliveries could not be diverted, a special, rush order was placed with Curtiss in October, 1917, for six planes of unique design, with an empty weight of , top speed of , range of and the capability of carrying up to of explosives.They became known as the Curtiss-Sperry Flying Bomb.Because this was to be a design dedicated to the remote control concept, the planes were not equipped with seats or standard pilot controls.