Curtiss-Wright XP-55 Ascender

http://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/detail.asp?aircraft_id=496



The XP-55 was a novel attempt at a pusher-prop aircraft design, though hampered by less-then-stellar performance. The XP-55 Ascender was an unorthodox attempt by the Curtiss-Wright company that produced just three prototype models. Answering a United States Army Air Corps call for unconventional aircraft designs, the XP-55 fit the bill with its pusher engine mounted at rear, swept-back wings and forward canard mountings. Less-then-stellar flight testing results and mechanical delays with the expected powerplant would eventually doom the project and leave two surviving prototypes (one would later be lost at an air show).

The XP-55 was a single-seat single-engine design. The pusher-type engine was mounted to the extreme rear and differed from traditional pull designs with the engine mounted at front. This left the pilot with a commanding forward view. Wings were highly swept which was another departure from the straight wing designs that continued on in jet fighter developments well into the Korean War. First drawings and scale models were completed and assessed as early as 1940 to which the Army Air Corps needed more convincing. As a result, Curtiss took it upon itself to produce a flyable full scale model - this one to be designated in-house as the CW-24B. The test aircraft differed some from the final three prototypes developed from the granted contract of 1942. The test bed flew with a Menasco C68-5 powerplant, whereas the final prototype models were fitted each with the Allison V-1710 engine. Initially, the XP-55 was to utilize an entirely new engine design in the form of a Pratt & Whitney design known as the X-1800. But developmental issues with the powerplant forced Curtiss to use an existing - yet proven - model instead.

Armament for the XP-55 was originally drawn up to include a pair of 20mm cannon to go along with twin 12.7mm (.50 caliber) machine guns. This arrangement was revisited and revised to a quad .50 caliber array during the testing phase and this standard armament stayed with the life of the program. The design offered up benefits in this way in that the armament could be fully fitted into the nose assembly, seeing it that the engine was now mounted behind the cockpit seating area, opening up the nose to more spacious armament. Firepower could also be more concentrated in this fashion as opposed to a combination of wing and nose-mounted armament.

The XP-55 would go on to feature a host of interesting design elements. For Curtiss, it would become its first design to feature a powered tricycle landing gear assembly (though fixed on the initial test models). The absence of a true rudder resulted in smaller vertical surfaces mounted far off onto the wings. The use of forward canards was also revolutionary as was the ejection system - the propeller had to be jettisoned before the pilot could eject himself, ensuring the pilot would not eject and hit the spinning propeller system at rear by accident. It should be noted that designs similar to this were also being trialed by the Japanese (in the J7W1 Shinden) and Germans (in the Henschel P.75) during the Second World War and was by no means unique to American aircraft design efforts.

The final verdict on the XP-55 rang in hard when it was realized that the system could not match the performance available to contemporary and traditionally-designed fighters. Additionally, the latter years of the Second World War were already bringing about the advent of jet-propulsion effectively negating any more development or advances in propeller systems research. As such, the series was limited in production totals and became the stuff for aviation aficionados and museum buffs.





Anyone got more info about this extraordinary airplane?


Many Thanks Arneken

 

The information you have is about all there is since it never went into production. These sites are all I have ever found and they only add a little bit to what you already have:

http://home.att.net/~jbaugher1/p55.html

and:

http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=2259

Here is a great site on American Aircraft of the war. Its own information is rather limited, but the side links to other sites are super.

http://www.daveswarbirds.com/usplanes/american.htm

Sorry there really isn't too much more, I do know that SAAB also producded a "pusher" type in the same time frame for Sweden. It solved the ejection problem with one of the first ejector seats, even though Sweden was neutral and NOT at war they were far from un-prepared to fight if attacked.

 

good old wiki gave another result:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XP-55_Ascender

 

How about the German version...




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dornier_Do_335

 

How about these?

John Myers prepares the first XP-56 (-12-1786) for a test flight in late 1943.

​

 

Those interested might also look at the Japanese J7W1 Shinden and, the far more interesting but virtually unknown, Societa Aeronautica Italiana (SAI) SS 4 designed by Sergio Stefanutti in 1938.
This aircraft had a number of firsts:
It was the first aircraft to have a steerable nose wheel landing gear system. It was the first true canard configuration warplane.

The SS 4 flew for the first time 1 May 1939, almost three years before any of its competetors. Yet, it remains virtually unknown.

 

Another of my favorites. The Northrup N9MB

 

You ought to be prosecuted by the House Committee on Un-American Activities! It's Northrop!

http://www.nurflugel.com/Nurflugel/Northrop/northrop.html

Northrop A-17
Northrop A-33
Northrop A-9
Northrop B2T
Northrop B-35
Northrop B-49
Northrop BT
Northrop C-19 Alpha
Northrop C-100 Gamma
Northrop C-125 Raider
Northrop Delta
Northrop F-5 Freedom Fighter
Northrop F-20 Tigershark
Northrop F-89 Scorpion
Northrop F2T Black Widow
Northrop HL-10
Northrop N-9M
Northrop N3P
Northrop Nomad
Northrop P-61 Black Widow
Northrop P-64
Northrop RF-5 Tigereye
Northrop RF-61 Reporter
Northrop T-38 Talon
Northrop Tacit Blue
Northrop X-4 Bantam
Northrop X-21
Northrop X-216H
Northrop XA-16
Northrop XP-56 Black Bullet
Northrop XP-79 Flying Ram
Northrop YA-9
Northrop YA-13
Northrop YB-49
Northrop YF-17 Cobra
Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit
Northrop Grumman X-47 Pegasus
Northrop/McDonnell Douglas YF-23 Black Widow II ~

Enough Northrops for you, eh?

 

The Brits had some too,

one of them was the Handley Page HP.75 Manx:

View attachment 3911

Regards
Kruska

 

Well, here's a bit on the aerodynamics involved

Also, the The History of the Flying Wing, a great site with lots of interesting and uncommon information, civilian and military.

See? The Jerries were doing tailless and wingless aircraft too ;lol:



More of interest here:

Not to go completely off-topic, here are a few photos of the XP-55:



And the Ambrosini SS-4 Terry Gardner was talking about

 

Some eye candy here!

 

Here the picture of one mentioned but not shown:

The Shinden:

View attachment 3912

http://www.eagle.ca/~harry/aircraft/shinden/

If I am not mistaken the Swedes had one too, but I can't recall the name. AFAIK it was also the first aircraft to be fitted with an ejection seat due to the propeller mounting.
Saab something

Regards
Kruska

 

Ha, found it,

Saab J21

View attachment 3914

Regards
Kruska

 

I hesitate to reply since you have so many replies already and I really don't have much to add. I have vague recollections of the XP 55. My recollection is that it had stability and control problems, which is not surprising given the extremely advanced nature of the design for its time. Swept wing aerodynamics were not really well understood at the time, at least by us. It really wasn't till we got the German data on swept wings after the war that we were able to design our first successful swept wing aircraft. One thing I would be interested in is whether Don Berlin was responsible for this design. An intriguing aspect of this is, as one of your correspondents points out, that the Japanese designed and built a very similar aircraft and encountered similar problems. We know that Jiro Horikoshi, who designed the Zero, was at Curtis briefly before the war. You have to wonder if he and Don didn't put their heads together over lunch one day and sketch this far out design on a paper napkin - just dreaming. The similarity between the two designs is so striking.

 

THank you everybody for the nice replies and extra photgraphs.

 

Never fear Tiktin, we´re always happy to learn from people who know what they're saying Thank you for your post and welcome aboard!

 

Holy Cow, ZA is being nice to a new member !!!!!!!!! I never thought I would see the day.

 

The Dutch were not immune from building these beasts either. The De Schelde S.21 was not only ugly but it had a tail mounted 23mm cannon and a hand held 23mm cannon up front for a single seat fighter.

 

Shhhhhhh!

"Softee softee catchee monkee"!

 

Regards
Kruska