Ryan XF2R Dark Shark

XF2R Dark Shark
Role	Fighter
Manufacturer	Ryan Aeronautical Company
First flight	November 1946
Status	Cancelled
Number built	1 prototype
Developed from	FR Fireball

The Ryan XF2R Dark Shark was an experimental aircraft built for the United States Navy that combined turboprop and turbojet propulsion. It was based on Ryan's earlier FR Fireball, but replaced the Fireball's piston engine with a General Electric T-31 turboprop engine driving a 4-bladed Hamilton Standard propeller.

The turboprop made for much improved performance over the Fireball, but the Navy showed little interest in it; by that time, they had abandoned the idea of the combination fighter and were instead looking into all-jet fighters.

The United States Air Force, however, showed a little more interest; they were at the time evaluating the Convair XP-81 of similar concept, and asked Ryan to modify the XF2R to use the Westinghouse J-34 turbojet instead of the General Electric J-31 used previously. Modifications to the prototype created the XF2R-2, with the jet intakes moved to the sides of the forward fuselage with NACA ducts instead of the inlets in the wing leading edge used before.

Although the Dark Shark proved to be a capable aircraft, it never got further than the prototype stage; all-jet aircraft were considered superior.

Specifications

The XF2R-1 in flight.

Data from The Complete Book of Fighters

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 36 ft 0 in (10.97 m)
• Wingspan: 42 ft 0 in (12.80 m)
• Height: 14 ft 0 in (4.27 m)
• Wing area: 305 ft² (28.3 m²)
• Loaded weight: 11,000 lb (4,990 kg)
• Powerplant:
  • 1 × General Electric J31 turbojet, 1,600 lbf (7.1 kN)
  • 1 × General Electric T31 turboprop, 1,760 hp (1,310 kW)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 497 mph (432 kn, 800 km/h) (at sea level)
• Service ceiling: 39,100 ft (11,900 m)
• Rate of climb: 4,850 ft/min (24.64 m/s)
• Wing loading: 36.1 lb/ft² (176 kg/m²)

Armament: 4 × .50-inch (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns

See also

Related development

• FR Fireball
  

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

• Convair XP-81
• Curtiss XF15C
• XTB3F Guardian
  

Related lists

• List of fighter aircraft
• List of military aircraft of the United States
  

References

Bibliography

• Ginter, Steve. Ryan FR-1 Fireball and XF2R-1 Darkshark, Naval Fighters Number 28'. Simi Valley, CA: Ginter Books, 1995. ISBN 0-942612-28-0.
• McDowell, Ernest. FR-1 Fireball, Mini in action number 5. Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal Publications Inc., 1995. ISBN 0-89747-344-2.

External links

• "Navy Tests Its Hotter Fireball" , March 1947, Popular Science article mid-page 24