The gallery above reproduces “Flash Performance of the P-51D Airplane Equipped with Acid Aniline Rocket Motor,” a test report of The Air Proving Ground Command at Eglin Field, Florida dated October 3, 1946. The object of the tests was to determine the operational suitability of the P-51D airplane equipped with an acid-aniline rocket motor. Two P-51D-25 [...]
The Lockheed XF-90 was built in response to a 1945 Air Force requirement for a long range penetration fighter and bomber escort. It was an attractive aircraft heavily influenced by the company’s experience with the P-80, sharing a similar intake and low wing configuration. However, it was designed to operate at higher speeds, with a [...]
The gallery above reproduces a letter from Republic Aviation Corporation to the Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics dated September 16, 1948 enclosing revised drawings of the Republic AP-47 mixed-power ground support airplane proposal. The letter was found in USAF files (which may have been those of the Colonel J.S. Holtoner also referenced in the [...]
In our twelfth article in a series on the Bell D188A/Model 2000 (a.k.a. XF-109 / XF3L) supersonic VTOL fighter of the late 1950s, we present a pair of Bell reports from early 1959—a Progress Report from January and a report on Experimental Model Programs dating from February 6. In the abstract to the Progress Report, Bell notes that [...]
In the third installment of an unplanned series on the navalized Lockheed P-80A, Serial No. 1028/Navy Serial 29668, we present a U.S. Naval Air Test Center (NATC) report dating from June 23, 1947 on flight tests of the Shooting Star as an overload fighter with wing tip auxiliary fuel tanks installed—project TED No. PTR 1116. I [...]
In our eleventh article in a series on the Bell D188A (a.k.a. XF-109 / XF3L) supersonic VTOL fighter of the late 1950s, we backtrack to January 1958 to present a Mock-Up Summary Report we previously missed. (Chronologically, the report falls between Parts 7 and 8 in the series). The first portion of the introduction to the report is [...]
After publishing our original article on P-80A, Serial No. 1028/Navy Serial 29668, naval aviation historian Tommy Thomason sent us additional photos of the aircraft under test at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland in 1946. According to Tommy, both bridle and pendant configurations were evaluated for catapult launch of the Navy’s P-80A. The bridle cable was attached to [...]
In our tenth article in a series on the Bell D188A/Model 2000 supersonic VTOL fighter of the late 1950s, we present more primary documents concerning this aircraft in a chronological sequence, specifically Bell progress reports and correspondence in the September—December 1958 period. In the paragraphs below, we reproduce the abstracts of each report, which can be read [...]
The photo gallery above depicts a Lockheed P-80A ordered for evaluation by the U.S. Navy in 1945. The aircraft carried Lockheed Aircraft Serial No. 1028/Navy Serial 29668; modifications include the addition of an arresting hook, catapult hooks and holdback. The photos were taken on December 5, 1945, likely at the Lockheed Air Terminal in Burbank, [...]
In our ninth article in a series on the Bell D188A (a.k.a. XF-109 / XF3L) supersonic VTOL fighter of the late 1950s, we present more primary documents concerning this aircraft in a chronological sequence, specifically Bell progress reports and correspondence in the April—August 1958 period. First we have a Bell Progress Summary from April 11. Since the [...]
In our eighth article in a series on the Bell D188A (a.k.a. XF-109 / XF3L) supersonic VTOL fighter of the late 1950s, we present more primary documents concerning this aircraft in a chronological sequence, specifically Navy Bureau of Aeronautics (BuAer) correspondence and a detailed Bell armament report from the February—March 1958 period. First we have a memorandum [...]
The concept of a “penetration fighter” evolved towards the end of WW II, when the USAAF anticipated the need for new class of jet fighter aircraft for the long-range escort of its strategic bombers. In 1946, it ordered the McDonnell XF-88 and Lockheed XF-90 to meet this requirement; the following year it would also order [...]
