The Vultee XP-54 ''Swoose Goose'' was a prototype fighter built by the

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 Corporati ...

Company for the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

(USAAF).

Design and development

Vultee submitted a proposal in response to a

U.S. 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 ri ...

request for an unusual configuration. The Vultee design won the competition, beating the

Curtiss Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company (1909 – 1929) was an American aircraft manufacturer originally founded by Glenn Hammond Curtiss and Augustus Moore Herring in Hammondsport, New York. After significant commercial success in its first decade ...

XP-55 Ascender and the

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 en ...

. 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 An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gen ...

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 The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) was a United States federal agency founded on March 3, 1915, to undertake, promote, and institutionalize aeronautical research. On October 1, 1958, the agency was dissolved and its assets ...

to potentially enable installation of cooling radiators and

intercooler An intercooler is a heat exchanger used to cool a gas after compression. Often found in turbocharged engines, intercoolers are also used in air compressors, air conditioners, refrigeration and gas turbines. Internal combustion engines Mo ...

s in the inverted gull wing. The

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-cy ...

engine was proposed as the powerplant, but after its development was discontinued the liquid-cooled

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 ...

was substituted. In September

1941 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January–August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar Eu ...

, the XP-54 mission was changed from low-altitude to high-altitude

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...

. Consequently, a

turbo-supercharger In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pro ...

and heavier armor was added, and empty weight increased to 18,000 lb (5,200 to 8,200 kg). XP54 Swoose Goose

The XP-54 was unique in numerous ways. The pressurized cockpit required a complex entry system: the pilot's seat acted as an elevator for cockpit access from the ground. The pilot lowered the seat electrically, sat in it, and raised it into the cockpit. Bail-out procedure was complicated by the pressurization system, necessitating a downward ejection of the pilot and seat to clear the propeller arc. Also, the nose section could pivot through the vertical, three degrees up and six degrees down. In the nose, two 37 mm T-9 cannon were in rigid mounts while two .50 cal machine guns were in movable mounts. Movement of the nose and machine guns was controlled by a special compensating

gun sight A sight is an aiming device used to assist in visually aligning ranged weapons, surveying instruments or optical illumination equipments with the intended target. Sights can be a simple set or system of physical markers that have to be aligne ...

. Thus, the cannon trajectory could be elevated without altering the flight attitude of the airplane. The large nose section gave rise to its whimsical nickname, the Swoose Goose, inspired by a song about Alexander who was half-swan and half-goose: "Alexander was a swoose." – a name shared with the oldest surviving B-17.

Operational history

Flight tests of the first prototype, ''41-1210'', began on 15 January 1943. Trials showed performance to be substantially below guarantees. Simultaneously, development of the XH-2470 engine was discontinued. Although the

Allison V-3420 The Allison V-3420 was a large experimental piston aircraft engine, designed in 1937 by the American Allison Engine Company. Design and development In 1937, at the behest of the United States Army Air Corps, the Allison Engine Company agreed t ...

engine could be substituted, that required substantial airframe changes. Projected delay and costs resulted in a decision to not consider production buys. The prototypes continued to be used in an experimental program until problems with the Lycoming engines and lack of spare parts caused termination. The second prototype, ''42-108994'' (but mistakenly painted as ''42-1211'') equipped with an experimental GE supercharger, made ten flights before it was relegated to a "parts plane" to keep the first prototype in the air.Thompson 1992, p. 114.

Specifications (XP-54)

Notes

Bibliography

* Balzer, Gerald H. ''American Secret Pusher Fighters of World War II: XP-54, XP-55, and XP-56''. North Branch, Minnesota: Specialty Press, 2008. . * Green, William and Gordon Swanborough. ''WW2 Aircraft Fact Files: US Army Air Force Fighters, Part 2''. London: Macdonald and Jane's Publishers Ltd., 1978. . * Jenkins, Dennis R. and Tony R. Landis. ''Experimental & Prototype U.S. Air Force Jet Fighters.'' North Branch, Minnesota: Specialty Press, 2008. . * Thompson, Jonathan. ''Vultee Aircraft 1932–1947''. Santa Ana, CA: Narkiewicz/Thompson, 1992. .

External links

USAAF Resource Center – Vultee XP-54
{{USAF fighters

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 ...