The Bell XFL Airabonita was an American experimental carrier-based interceptor aircraft developed for the United States Navy by Bell Aircraft Corporation of Buffalo, New York. It was similar to and a parallel development of the U.S. Army Air Corps’ land-based P-39 Airacobra, differing mainly in the use of a tailwheel undercarriage in place of the P-39's tricycle gear. Only one prototype was built.

Design and development

The XFL-1 (Bell Model 5) was powered by a single 1,150 hp (858 kW) Allison XV-1710-6 liquid-cooled V12 engine installed amidships behind the pilot and driving a three-bladed Curtiss Electric propeller in the nose through a 10.38 ft (3.16 m) extension shaft. The aircraft had provisions for a single 37 mm (1.46 in) Oldsmobile T9 cannon which could be replaced by a .50 in (12.7 mm) Browning M2/AN machine gun firing through the propeller shaft and two .30 in (7.62 mm) machine guns in the fuselage nose. It first flew on 13 May 1940.

Although based on the P-39, the XFL-1 utilized a conventional tail-wheel undercarriage and the coolant radiators were housed externally in fairings under the wings instead of within the wing center section. The Allison engine was the first of its type to be tried out by the Navy, and lacked the turbosupercharger fitted to the XP-39.

As a possible further reason for the rejection, it is often stated that the Navy's position during that era was that all its aircraft should use air-cooled engines (while the Allison was liquid-cooled). This appears unfounded speculation. The U.S. Navy "would consider a liquid-cooled engine installation provided a material increase in performance over air-cooled engine can be shown."

In addition, the Allison engine had only a single-speed supercharger. Consequently, its altitude performance was much inferior to other naval fighters of the period, such as the Grumman F4F Wildcat.

Lastly, the Airabonita had to compete against the faster though not "light" Vought F4U Corsair, which in the initial F4U-1 version was capable of 390 mph at 24,000 ft.

Operators

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  • United States Navy

Specifications (XFL-1 Airabonita)

thumb|right|XFL-1

See also

Notes

References

Bibliography

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  • Green, William and Gordon Swanborough. "Bell XFL-1 Airabonita". WW2 Aircraft Fact Files: US Navy and Marine Corps Fighters. London: Macdonald and Jane's Publishers Ltd., 1976, p. 3. .
  • Kinzey, Bert. "XFL-1 Airabonita". P-39 Airacobra - in detail. Carrollton, Texas: Squadron/Signal Publications Inc., 1999, p. 8. .
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  • Thomason, Tommy. Bell XFL-1 Airabonita (Naval Fighters Number Eighty-One). Simi Valley, California: Ginter Books, 2008. .
  • Tomalik, Jacek. Bell P-6 Kingcobra, XFL-1 Airabonita, P-39 Airacobra (Monografie Lotnicze 59) (in Polish). Gdansk, Poland: AJ-Press, 2001. .
  • Wagner, Ray. "American Combat Planes Of The 20th Century".
  • Wixey, Ken. "Flying Cannon: Bell's Cobra Family, Part One". Air Enthusiast, No. 80, May–June 1999, pp. 20–27.