The Douglas XP-48 was a small, lightweight fighter aircraft, designed by

Douglas Aircraft 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 as ...

in 1939 for evaluation by the

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 ...

. Intended to be powered by a small inline piston engine, the contract was cancelled before a prototype could be constructed, due to the Army's concerns about the projected performance of the aircraft."Douglas XP-48"
. National Museum of the United States Air Force. Accessed May 9, 2010.

Inspiration

In the years before the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, a number of countries became intrigued by the idea of developing a very light fighter aircraft,Norton 2008, p. 156 with these proposals often being derived from the design of racing aircraft. Following the consideration of a modified French Caudron racer by the U.S. Army Air Corps, a proposition that was considered uneconomical, Douglas Aircraft made an unsolicited proposal to the Army Air Corps of their Model 312 design in 1939.

Design and cancellation

Intended to be powered by a Ranger XV-770 inverted V-12 engine equipped with a supercharger, Douglas' proposal was considered worth pursuing by the Army Air Corps, and on 5 August 1939 a single prototype was ordered. The Model 312 was given the Army designation XP-48, the 48th aircraft type in the Pursuit category.Norton 2008, p. 157 Closely resembling the later Bell XP-77, the design of the XP-48 featured a wing of remarkably high aspect ratio, and was equipped with a pair of synchronized machine guns for armament, Douglas touted the XP-48 as offering outstanding performance, with a top speed of at least , and, according to Douglas' estimates, possibly as high as .Angelucci 1987, p. 183. However, this very aspect of its design was regarded with suspicion by the Army Air Corps. The Ranger engine was suffering from development difficulties and delays and would never prove truly reliable.Adcock 1991, p. 45 At the same time, Douglas' performance estimates became increasingly regarded as being over-optimistic.Brown et al. 1961, p. 64 Accordingly, in February 1940 the Army cancelled the XP-48 contract, and without government funding Douglas ceased development of the aircraft.

Specifications (XP-48)

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Adcock, Al. ''OS2U Kingfisher in action''. Carrollton, Texas: Squadron/Signal Publications, 1991. . * Angelucci, Enzo. ''The American Fighter from 1917 to the present''. New York: Orion, 1987. . * Brown, Kimbrough et al. ''U.S. Army and Air Force Fighters, 1916-1961''. Letchworth, UK: Harleyford Publications, 1961. * Francillon, René J. ''McDonnell Douglas Aircraft since 1920''. London: Putnam & Company Ltd., 1979. . * Norton, Bill. ''U.S. Experimental & Prototype Aircraft Projects: Fighters 1939–1945''. North Branch, Minnesota: Specialty Press, 2008. .

External links

Douglas XP-48
{{USAF fighters P-48 Cancelled military aircraft projects of the United States Single-engined tractor aircraft Low-wing aircraft