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Curtiss XP-46

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Template:Infobox Aircraft The Curtiss XP-46 was a prototype US fighter aircraft. It was a development of the Curtiss-Wright Corporation to introduce the best features found in European fighter aircraft in 1939 into a successor fighter to the Curtiss P-40 then in production.

Design and development

A US Army Air Corps (USAAC) specification based upon a Curtiss proposal was the basis for an order placed in September 1939 for the XP-46. The requirements called for a single engine, low wing aircraft, slightly smaller than the P-40, with a wide-track, inward-retracting landing gear. The selected engine was an Allison V-1710-39 rated at 1,150 hp. The planned armament included two 0.5 inch synchronized machine guns in the forward fuselage and provisions for eight 0.3 inch wing mounted guns. The USAAC later added requirements for self-sealing fuel tanks and 65 lb of armor, that were to adversely affect performance.

Testing

Two prototype aircraft were delivered, designated XP-46A, with first flight occurring on 15 February 1941. However, the USAAC decided, while the XP-46s were under construction, to replace the procurement with the similarly powered development of the P-40. By the decision of July 1940 disruption of the Curtiss production line for new airframe was avoided. Subsequently, the performance during trials of the XP-46 was found inferior to the P-40 development, the P-40D.

An urban legend surrounding the origins of the P-51 Mustang is linked to the North American Aviation (NAA) purchase of test data on the P-40 and P-46. NAA paid $56,000 to Curtiss for technical aerodynamic data on the XP-46 and although there are certain design similarities in the radiator/oil-cooler configuration, the new NA-73X (the company designation for the future P-51) even in preliminary design had already progressed beyond the XP-46 [1].

Specifications (Curtiss XP-46A)

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General characteristics

  • Crew: one, pilot

Performance Armament

  • 2 × .50 in (12.7 mm) synchronized machine guns in the forward fuselage
  • Provision for 8 × .30 in (7.6 mm) wing-mounted guns

References

  1. ^ P-51
  • Green, William. War Planes of the Second World War- Fighters (Vol 4) . London: Macdonald, 1961.

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