|
XP-54
The Vultee XP-54 ''Swoose Goose'' was a prototype fighter built by the Vultee Aircraft Company for the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). Design and development Vultee submitted a proposal in response to a U.S. Army Air Corps request for an unusual configuration. The Vultee design won the competition, beating the Curtiss XP-55 Ascender and the Northrop XP-56 Black Bullet. Vultee designated it Model 84, a descendant of their earlier Model 78. After completing preliminary engineering and wind tunnel tests, a contract for a prototype was awarded on 8 January 1941. A second prototype was ordered on 17 March 1942. Although it appeared to be a radical design, performance was lackluster, and the project was canceled. The XP-54 was designed with a pusher engine in the aft part of the fuselage. The tail was mounted rearward between two mid-wing booms, with the twelve-foot propeller between them. The design included a "ducted wing section" developed by the NACA to potentially enab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vultee XP-54
The Vultee XP-54 ''Swoose Goose'' was a prototype fighter built by the Vultee Aircraft Company for the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). Design and development Vultee submitted a proposal in response to a U.S. Army Air Corps request for an unusual configuration. The Vultee design won the competition, beating the Curtiss XP-55 Ascender and the Northrop XP-56 Black Bullet. Vultee designated it Model 84, a descendant of their earlier Model 78. After completing preliminary engineering and wind tunnel tests, a contract for a prototype was awarded on 8 January 1941. A second prototype was ordered on 17 March 1942. Although it appeared to be a radical design, performance was lackluster, and the project was canceled. The XP-54 was designed with a pusher engine in the aft part of the fuselage. The tail was mounted rearward between two mid-wing booms, with the twelve-foot propeller between them. The design included a "ducted wing section" developed by the NACA to potentially enab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lycoming H-2470
The Lycoming XH-2470 was an H engine for aircraft designed and developed by Lycoming Engines in the 1930s. Although the engine was flown in an aircraft, it was not fitted to any aircraft selected for production. It was derived from the Lycoming O-1230 engine. Design and development In 1932, the engineers at Lycoming Engines became aware that the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) wanted a high-performance engine that could produce at least one horsepower per cubic inch (46 kW/L) of engine displacement.White p. 379 Determined to become known as a high-performance engine manufacturer, Lycoming began an experimental, high-performance engine of its own. After spending US $500,000, and after many attempts to develop a successful engine, it finally came close to the USAAC specifications with the O-1230 engine, which was a 12-cylinder liquid-cooled horizontally opposed low-profile piston engine.White p. 380 In 1936, the single-cylinder development tests exceeded expectations, pas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lycoming XH-2470
The Lycoming XH-2470 was an H engine for aircraft designed and developed by Lycoming Engines in the 1930s. Although the engine was flown in an aircraft, it was not fitted to any aircraft selected for production. It was derived from the Lycoming O-1230 engine. Design and development In 1932, the engineers at Lycoming Engines became aware that the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) wanted a high-performance engine that could produce at least one horsepower per cubic inch (46 kW/L) of engine displacement.White p. 379 Determined to become known as a high-performance engine manufacturer, Lycoming began an experimental, high-performance engine of its own. After spending US $500,000, and after many attempts to develop a successful engine, it finally came close to the USAAC specifications with the O-1230 engine, which was a 12-cylinder liquid-cooled horizontally opposed low-profile piston engine.White p. 380 In 1936, the single-cylinder development tests exceeded expectations, pas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Curtiss-Wright XP-55 Ascender
The Curtiss-Wright XP-55 Ascender (company designation CW-24) is a 1940s United States prototype fighter aircraft built by Curtiss-Wright. Along with the Vultee XP-54 and Northrop XP-56, it resulted from United States Army Air Corps proposal R-40C issued on 27 November 1939 for aircraft with improved performance, armament, and pilot visibility over existing fighters; it specifically allowed for unconventional aircraft designs. An unusual design for its time, it had a canard configuration, a rear-mounted engine, swept wings, and two vertical tails. Because of its pusher design, it was sarcastically referred to as the "Ass-ender". Like the XP-54, the Ascender was designed for the Pratt & Whitney X-1800 engine, but was re-designed after that engine project was canceled. It was also the first Curtiss fighter aircraft to use tricycle landing gear. Design and development June 1940, the Curtiss-Wright company received an Army contract for preliminary engineering data and a power ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vultee XP-68 Tornado
The Vultee XP-68 Tornado was a proposed American high-altitude interceptor aircraft. It was based on the experimental XP-54 Swoose Goose and powered by the Wright R-2160 Tornado 42-cylinder radial engine driving a set of contra-rotating propellers in a twin-boom pusher configuration In an aircraft with a pusher configuration (as opposed to a tractor configuration), the propeller(s) are mounted behind their respective engine(s). Since a pusher propeller is mounted behind the engine, the drive shaft is in compression in nor .... When the engine was cancelled on 22 November 1941, the XP-68 was also cancelled. Specifications See also References Citations Bibliography * Andrade, John M. ''U.S. Military Aircraft Designations and Serials since 1909''. Earl Shilton, Leicester, UK: Midland Counties Publications, 1979. (Hardcover), (Softcover). * Angelucci, Enzo and Peter Bowers. ''The American Fighter, The Definite Guide to American Fighter Aircraft from 1917 to the Present' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Northrop XP-56 Black Bullet
The Northrop XP-56 Black Bullet was a unique prototype fighter interceptor built by the Northrop Corporation. It was one of the most radical of the experimental aircraft built during World War II. Ultimately, it was unsuccessful and did not enter production. Design and development The initial idea for the XP-56 was quite radical for 1939. It was to have no horizontal tail, only a small vertical tail, used an experimental engine, and be produced using a novel metal, magnesium. The aircraft was to be a wing with a small central fuselage added to house the engine and pilot. It was hoped that this configuration would have less aerodynamic drag than a conventional airplane. The idea for this single-seat aircraft originated in 1939 as the Northrop N2B model. It was designed around the Pratt & Whitney liquid-cooled X-1800 engine in a pusher configuration driving contra-rotating propellers. The U.S. Army ordered Northrop to begin design work on 22 June 1940, and after reviewing the d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pratt & Whitney X-1800
The Pratt & Whitney X-1800 (later enlarged as the XH-2600) was an H-block aircraft engine project developed between 1938 and 1940, which was cancelled with only one example being built. Design and development The X-1800 was a watercooled 24-cylinder H-block of 2,240 in3 displacement;Gunston 2006, p. 163. this was later expanded to 2,600 in3 displacement.Connors, p. 147. It was intended to be used in the Vultee XP-54, Curtiss-Wright XP-55 Ascender, Northrop XP-56, Lockheed XP-49, and Lockheed XP-58 Chain Lightning. Projected performance was to be 1,800 to 2,200 hp (1350-1640 kW), with a turbocharger to secure high-altitude performance. The designation came from the intended power rating rather than the more usual cubic inch engine displacement figure.Gunston 2000 The target date for series production was 1942. In 1940, however, performance on the test bench did not continue to improve, demonstrating a need for considerable additional development effort. Pratt & Whitne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
XP-68 Tornado
The Vultee XP-68 Tornado was a proposed American high-altitude interceptor aircraft. It was based on the experimental XP-54 Swoose Goose and powered by the Wright R-2160 Tornado 42-cylinder radial engine driving a set of contra-rotating propellers in a twin-boom pusher configuration In an aircraft with a pusher configuration (as opposed to a tractor configuration), the propeller(s) are mounted behind their respective engine(s). Since a pusher propeller is mounted behind the engine, the drive shaft is in compression in nor .... When the engine was cancelled on 22 November 1941, the XP-68 was also cancelled. Specifications See also References Citations Bibliography * Andrade, John M. ''U.S. Military Aircraft Designations and Serials since 1909''. Earl Shilton, Leicester, UK: Midland Counties Publications, 1979. (Hardcover), (Softcover). * Angelucci, Enzo and Peter Bowers. ''The American Fighter, The Definite Guide to American Fighter Aircraft from 1917 to the Present' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vultee Aircraft
The Vultee Aircraft Corporation became an independent company in 1939 in Los Angeles County, California. It had limited success before merging with the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation in 1943, to form the Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation − or Convair. History Gerard "Jerry" Freebairn Vultee (1900–1938) and Vance Breese (1904–1973) started the Airplane Development Corporation in early 1932 after American Airlines showed great interest in their six-passenger V-1 design. Soon after, Errett Lobban (E.L.) Cord bought all 500 shares of stock in the company and the Airplane Development Corporation became a Cord subsidiary. AVCO subsidiary Due to the Air Mail Act of 1934, AVCO established the Aviation Manufacturing Corporation (AMC) on November 30, 1934 through the acquisition of Cord's holdings, including Vultee's Airplane Development Corporation. AMC was liquidated on January 1, 1936 and Vultee Aircraft Division was formed as an autonomous subsidiary of AVCO. Jer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Swoose
''The Swoose'' is a B-17D-BO Flying Fortress, USAAF Ser. No. "40-3097", that saw extensive use in the Southwest Pacific theatre of World War II and survived to become the oldest B-17 still intact. It is the only early "shark fin" B-17 known to exist, and the only surviving B-17 to have seen action in the 1941–42 Philippines Campaign, operating on the first day of the United States entry into the war. Early history The 38th of 42 B-17Ds built by Boeing, "40-3097" was accepted by the Army Air Corps on 25 April 1941 in Seattle, Washington. It was ferried to Hickam Field, Hawaii, 13–14 May 1941, by the 19th Bomb Group as part of a group of 21 B-17C and B-17Ds slated to equip the 11th Bomb Group. In response to the perceived hostile activities of the Japanese military, in September 1941 the War Department sent nine B-17s with hand-picked crews from their base in Hawaii to Clark Field in the Philippines. These were assigned to the 14th Bombardment Squadron, detached from th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical rift developed between more traditional ground-based army personnel and those who felt that aircraft were being underutilized and that air operations were being stifled for political reasons unrelated to their effectiveness. The USAAC was renamed from the earlier United States Army Air Service on 2 July 1926, and was part of the larger United States Army. The Air Corps became the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) on 20 June 1941, giving it greater autonomy from the Army's middle-level command structure. During World War II, although not an administrative echelon, the Air Corps (AC) remained as one of the combat arms of the Army until 1947, when it was legally abolished by legislation establishing the Department of the Air Force. The Air ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
