<!-- This article is a part of Wikipedia:WikiProject Aircraft. Please see Wikipedia:WikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout. -->

The Vultee XP-54 Swoose Goose was a prototype heavy fighter built by the Vultee Aircraft Company for the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF).

Design and development

Vultee submitted a proposal in response to U.S. Army Air Corps request R40C. The Vultee design won the competition, beating the Curtiss XP-55 Ascender and the Northrop XP-56 Black Bullet. Vultee designated it Model 84, a descendant of their earlier Model 78. After completing preliminary engineering and wind tunnel tests, a contract for a prototype was awarded on 8 January 1941. A second prototype was ordered on 17 March 1942. Although it appeared to be a radical design, performance was lackluster, and the project was canceled due to budget overruns and extreme delays.

The XP-54 was designed with a pusher engine in the aft part of the fuselage. The tail was mounted rearward between two mid-wing booms, with the twelve-foot propeller between them. The design included a "ducted wing section" developed by the NACA to enable installation of cooling radiators and intercoolers in the inverted gull wing. The Pratt & Whitney X-1800 and Wright R-2160 Tornado engines were proposed as possible powerplants, but after the discontinuation of the Pratt & Whitney X-1800 and being denied access to the Wright R-2160 Tornado Also, the nose section could pivot through the vertical, three degrees up and six degrees down. In the nose, two 37&nbsp;mm M4 T-12/T-13 cannons were in rigid mounts while two .50 cal machine guns were in movable mounts. Movement of the nose and machine guns was controlled by a special compensating gun sight. Thus, the cannon trajectory could be elevated without altering the flight attitude of the airplane. The large nose section gave rise to its whimsical nickname, the Swoose Goose, inspired by a song about Alexander who was half-swan and half-goose: "Alexander was a swoose." – a name shared with the oldest surviving B-17.

Operational history

Flight tests of the first prototype, 41-1210, began on 15 January 1943. Trials showed the XP-54 had great handling although, the performance was found to be substantially below guarantees. Simultaneously, development of the XH-2470 engine was discontinued. Although the Allison V-3420 engine could be substituted, that required substantial airframe changes. Projected delays and mounting costs resulted in the decision to not consider purchasing of production aircraft.

The prototypes continued to be used in an experimental program until problems with the Lycoming engines and lack of spare parts caused termination. The second prototype, 42-108994 (but mistakenly painted as 42-1211) had the twin Wright turbo-supercharger setup replaced with a single experimental GE XCM turbo-supercharger,

Specifications (XP-54)

thumb|

See also

Notes

Bibliography

  • Balzer, Gerald H. American Secret Pusher Fighters of World War II: XP-54, XP-55, and XP-56. North Branch, Minnesota: Specialty Press, 2008. .
  • Green, William and Gordon Swanborough. WW2 Aircraft Fact Files: US Army Air Force Fighters, Part 2. London: Macdonald and Jane's Publishers Ltd., 1978. .
  • Jenkins, Dennis R. and Tony R. Landis. Experimental & Prototype U.S. Air Force Jet Fighters. North Branch, Minnesota: Specialty Press, 2008. .
  • Thompson, Jonathan. Vultee Aircraft 1932–1947. Santa Ana, CA: Narkiewicz/Thompson, 1992. .
  • USAAF Resource Center – Vultee XP-54