Bell XP-52: Difference between revisions

{{short description|Canceled fighter aircraft project}}

{{Redirect|Bell XP-59|the Bell XP-59 jet fighter|Bell P-59 Airacomet}}

{{Use American English|date=June 2022}}

|caption = A wind tunnel model of the XP-59

|status = Canceled October 1940 (XP-52) <br>Canceled 25 November 1941 (XP-59)

The '''Bell XP-52''' and subsequent '''XP-59''' were World War II [[fighter aircraft]] design projects by the American [[Bell Aircraft Corporation]].

Both projects featured a [[twin-boom]] layout with a rear-mounted engine driving [[Pusher configuration|pusher]] [[contra-rotating propellers]].

When the XP-59 project was canceled the designation XP-59A was used as a cover forasecret jet fighter prototype, which would enter production as the [[Bell P-59 Airacomet|P-59 Airacomet]].

==XP-52==

[[File:Continental I-1430.jpg|thumb|The intended engine – the Continental X-1430 in the [[National Museum of the United States Air Force]]]]

The XP-52 design was begun by the Bell Company in 1940, separate from the R-40C competition, under the Air Material Command designator '''MX-3'''.

The short [[fuselage]] carried a [[piston engine]] in the rear, driving a pair of contra-rotating [[Propeller (aircraft)|propeller]]s in a [[pusher configuration]]. The wings were swept back at an angle of 20 degrees, with a [[Tailplane|horizontal stabilizer]] mounted behind the propeller on [[Twin-boom aircraft|twin booms]] running back from the wings. The fuselage was unusually streamlined, being round and barrel-shaped, with the forward-located pilot's cockpit fully faired-in to its lines and the nose ending in a round air intake which was ducted back internally to the engine.<ref name="jones">Jones, L.; ''US Fighters'', Aero, 1975.</ref> The undercarriage was a tricycle arrangement, with the main wheels retracting into the tailbooms. Propulsion was to be provided by the experimental [[Continental XI-1430|Continental XIV-1430-3]] inverted V-12 engine.<ref>Jenkins, Dennis R. and Tony R. Landis. Experimental & Prototype U.S. Air Force Jet Fighters. North Branch, Minnesota, USA: Specialty Press, 2008. {{ISBN|978-1-58007-111-6}}.</ref>

The XP-52 was canceled in October 1940 because the XIV-1430 engine ran into technical difficulties. Bell submitted a similar design to the US Navy as the Model 19, but this too was never built.<ref name=ASP>Buttler, Tony, and Griffith, Alan, 2015. American Secret Projects: Fighters, Bombers, and Attack Aircraft, 1937–1945. Manchester: Crecy Publishing. {{ISBN|978-1906537487}}.</ref>

==XP-59==

Although generally similar in layout to the XP-52, the XP-59 was slightly larger and heavier, and was to be powered by a Pratt and Whitney R-2800-23 engine of {{convert|2,000|hp|kW}}.<ref name="jones" /> Two prototypes were ordered in February 1941.<ref name=ASP/>

On 3 October 1941 the contract for Bell's first jet fighter was signed. The prototype was designated the XP-59A and it would enter production as the [[Bell P-59 Airacomet|P-59 Airacomet]]. The original XP-59 was canceled on November 25, 1941 because Bell itself was pre-occupied with development of the [[Bell P-63 Kingcobra]].<ref name="jones" /><ref name=ASP/>

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* [[SAAB 21]]

* [[Vultee XP-54|Vultee XP-54 Swoose Goose]]

* [[SNCASO SO.8000 Narval]]

* [[List of military aircraft of the United States]]

==References==

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Cancelled military aircraft projects of the United States]]