The Douglas XFD was a

carrier-based Carrier-based aircraft, sometimes known as carrier-capable aircraft or carrier-borne aircraft, are naval aircraft Naval aviation is the application of military air power by navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land base ...

biplane

fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...

designed for the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, and the first fighter to be built by the

Douglas Aircraft Company The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American aerospace manufacturer based in Southern California. It was founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas Sr. and later merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell Douglas; it then operated a ...

. A victim of changing requirements, no production was undertaken.

Design and development

The XFD was designed to the U.S. Navy's

Bureau of Aeronautics The Bureau of Aeronautics (BuAer) was the U.S. Navy's material-support organization for naval aviation from 1921 to 1959. The bureau had "cognizance" (''i.e.'', responsibility) for the design, procurement, and support of naval aircraft and relate ...

(BuAer) Specification No. 311, requesting a carrier-based two-seater biplane fighter. On June 30, 1932, the Navy ordered the XFD, Vought XF3U, and Curtiss XF12C for testing.Angelucci, 1987. pp. 182-183. The first naval fighter designed by Douglas Aircraft,Pattillo 2001, p. 111. the XFD was constructed of metal, with a fabric outer covering. The crew sat in tandem in a single bay, enclosed by a long canopy. The aircraft had fixed

conventional landing gear Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Term ...

, and was designed to be armed with two

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles ...

s, one fixed in the

cowling A cowling is the removable covering of a vehicle's engine, most often found on automobiles, motorcycles, airplanes, and on outboard boat motors. On airplanes, cowlings are used to reduce drag and to cool the engine. On boats, cowlings are a cove ...

and the other on a flexible mount for the observer. A bomb load could be carried.Johnson 2011, p. 84. Powered was supplied by a

Pratt & Whitney R-1535 Twin Wasp Junior The Pratt & Whitney R-1535 Twin Wasp Junior was an engine used in American aircraft in the 1930s. The engine was introduced in 1932 as a 14-cylinder version of the 9-cylinder R-985. It was a two-row, air-cooled radial design. Displacement was ...

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is ...

Operational history

The XFD-1 prototype first flew in January 1933; it was delivered to the U.S. Navy for trials at

Naval Air Station Anacostia Anacostia is a historic neighborhood in Southeast Washington, D.C. Its downtown is located at the intersection of Good Hope Road and Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue. It is located east of the Anacostia River, after which the neighborhood is na ...

in June 1933, within four days of the delivery of the Vought XF3U-1; evaluations of the types were undertaken between June 18, 1933 and August 14, 1934. While the XFD-1's performance was considered to be acceptable, the U.S. Navy's operational requirements were already changing to see the two-seat fighter concept falling out of favor, the scout bomber being considered more useful for the Navy's needs, and accordingly after the end of the XFD-1's flight trials no further orders were placed for the type.

Specifications

Douglas XFD-1 running up on 26 June 1933

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * {{USN fighters Cancelled military aircraft projects of the United States F01D 1930s United States fighter aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Biplanes Carrier-based aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1933