Curtiss-Wright XP-55 Ascender

The Curtiss-Wright XP-55 Ascender (company designation CW-24) is a 1940s United States prototype fighter aircraft built by Curtiss-Wright. Along with the Vultee XP-54 and Northrop XP-56, it resulted from United States Army Air Corps proposal R-40C issued on 27 November 1939 for aircraft with improved performance, armament, and pilot visibility over existing fighters; it specifically allowed for unconventional aircraft designs. An unusual design for its time, it had a canard configuration with a rear-mounted engine, and two vertical tails at end of swept wings. Because of its pusher design, it was satirically referred to as the "Ass-ender". Like the XP-54, the Ascender was designed for the 1,800 hp Pratt & Whitney X-1800 24-Cylinder H-engine, but was redesigned after that engine project was canceled. It was also the first Curtiss fighter aircraft to use tricycle landing gear. Development of the Ascender was cancelled when testing revealed it to be inferior to conventional fighter aircraft, and the first jet fighters were operational.

Design and development

thumb|right|Curtiss CW-24B at Langley wind tunnel.

In June 1940, the Curtiss-Wright company received an Army contract for preliminary engineering data and a powered wind tunnel model. The designation 'P-55' was reserved for the project. The exhaustive wind-tunnel tests that from November 1940 through January 1941 left the USAAC dissatisfied with the results of these tests. The flying testbed was powered by a Menasco C68-5 inline engine. It had a fabric-covered, welded steel tube fuselage with a wooden wing. The undercarriage was non-retractable. The 20 mm cannons were also replaced by 0.50 in machine guns.

The third XP-55 (serial 42-78847) flew for the first time on 25 April 1944. Modifications resulting from the investigation of the crash of the first prototype were introduced during construction; the addition of four-foot wingtip extensions to improve the stall characteristics and increasing the limits of the nose elevator travel to improve recovery if a stall did occur. After a low pass in formation with a Lockheed P-38 Lightning and a North American P-51 Mustang

In test flights the XP-55 achieved 390 mph at 19,300 feet but suffered engine cooling problems. In addition, by the end of 1944, German and British jet-powered fighters were fully operational, and the Lockheed XP-80 was about to commence operational trials with USAAF units in Italy. Development of completely new piston-engine fighter designs was regarded as redundant; further development of such aircraft was terminated, including the XP-55.

Aircraft disposition

thumb|XP-55 on display at the [[Air Zoo]]

42-78845: crashed during vertical dive on November 15, 1943. Pilot bailed out.
42-78846: on display at the Air Zoo in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It is on long-term loan from the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. Used for official performance tests, flying a total of 27 hours.

Specifications (XP-55)

right|thumb|Curtis XP-55 Ascender side view.

[[File:1947 Jettison-Device-Patent.jpg|thumb|

Patent for the propeller jettison system used on the XP-55.

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References

Citations

Bibliography

McIntyre, Violet. Niagara Gazette, Niagara Falls, NY, 11 November 2004

External links

NMUSAF – Curtiss XP-55
NASM article
XP-55 Ascender by Joe Baugher
Curtiss Wright XP-55 Ascender -USAAF Resource Center at warbirdsresourcegroup.org
Dayton Air Show History
"Flying Backwards to the Future", Popular Science, August 1945
PlaneHistoria - XP-55 Ascender: the Back-to-Front Fighter
The FlyingMag - The Short, Unconventional Life of the Curtiss XP-55 Ascender