Grumman XP-50 Skyrocket Twin-Engine Fighter - History, Specs and Pictures

Authored By Staff Writer | Last Updated: 9/9/2009

The Grumman XP-50 came in a close second to the Lockheed XP-38 for the US Army - the latter going on to become a classic fighter of the 20th Century.

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Firmly entrenched as an aircraft supplier to the United States Navy, the Grumman aircraft company set about to supply an equally lucrative deal with the US Army to produce a hybrid high-speed pursuit fighter and light bomber platform. Having developed the radical-looking XF5F-1 Skyrocket in the 1930's, Grumman chose to forward the concept with a few design alterations. These included the addition of a longer nose section to accommodate a nose landing gear and make for a tricycle landing system not to dissimilar to that as showcased by the Bell corporation and its Airacobra series. The resulting design sparked enough interest from the United States Army to warrant production of a flyable prototype with the designation of XP-50.

The XP-50 showcased many similarities to its predecessor. The pilot sat in a stubby yet streamlined fuselage with the lengthened nose extending just beyond the engine nacelles. The engines were held in low-mounted monoplane wings, all forward of the cockpit. The engines selected were Wright-branded R-1820-G205 which carried a military designation of R-1820-67/-69 and each turned in opposite directions to counter the naturally-occurring torque effects unique to any engine. Wings were clipped at the ends (ala the North American P-51 Mustang) and the empennage was dominated by the spit twin vertical fins as was found on the original XF5F-1. The cockpit was positioned in the middle of the fuselage and covered with a glazed frame canopy. Vision was reported solid when peering forward and above yet the wing and engine placement no doubt hampered vision below - a common design detriment of twin-engine fighters throughout the war.

Armament options were tossed about during the development of the XP-50. Since heavy caliber air-cooled machine guns were the norm for US aircraft designs of the time, a preliminary armament package of 6 x 12.7mm Browning machine guns was brought forth. This would have a cluster of 4 x 12.7mm guns in the nose assembly and an additional 1 x 12.7mm to a wing. An impressive total of 500 rounds per gun was envisioned. The second proposed armament package was more in line with the future of the quintessential dogfighter and consisted of a battery of 2 x 20mm Hispano-Suiza cannons in the nose along with 2 x 12.7mm machine guns. 60 rounds were to be afforded the cannons. A further 2 x 12.7mm machine guns were intended to be mounted in each wing. Al in all, either weapon formation would have made the XP-50 an aircraft to be reckoned with. To make the Xp-50 a true hybrid fighter-bomber, provision was added for a single 165lb drop bomb under each wing. In an interesting design note, a window was installed on the cockpit floor for the sole use of assisting the pilot in bombing. Unfortunately for the XP-50, none of this armament was ever fitted into the design.

First flight for the XP-50 occurred in February of 1941 and the system passed all crucial performance tests despite the relatively short flight time of just twenty minutes. Successive flights were equally promising until on April 14th, 1941, the aircraft suffered a catastrophic failure of one of the turbosuperchargers forcing the pilot to eject the aircraft and lose it to the waters above Long Island Sound. This no doubt provided a hefty dark stain on the XP-50 and the US Army made moves to secure the Lockheed XP-38 instead.

Despite the setback, the design was reconstituted into yet another new design - the Model G-51. This particular design was to form the basis of the XF7F which would become the F7F Tigercat of United States Marine fame (missing out on World War 2 altogether yet making a splash in the Korean War a few short years later). In any case, the XP-50 was a solid design when compared to other developmental aircraft of the war. Grumman would no doubt recover from the rejection by becoming one of America's best known aircraft firms with the production of the F6F Hellcat, F8F Bearcat and the timeless F-14 Tomcat among other notable systems. Text ©2003-2013 www.MilitaryFactory.com • All Rights Reserved • No Reproduction Permitted
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Specifications for the
Grumman XP-50 Skyrocket
Twin-Engine Fighter

Country of Origin: United States
Manufacturer: Grumman - USA
Initial Year of Service: 1941
Production: 1

Focus Model: Grumman XP-50 Skyrocket
Crew: 1

Length: 31.89ft (9.72m)
Width: 41.99ft (12.80m)
Height: 11.98ft (3.65m)
Weight (Empty): 8,298lbs (3,764kg)
Weight (MTOW): 10,600lbs (4,808kg)

Powerplant: 2 x Wright R-1820-67/-69 developing 1,200hp each.

Maximum Speed: 424mph (683kmh; 369kts)
Maximum Range: 1,250miles (2,011km)
Service Ceiling: 40,000ft (12,192m; 7.6miles)
Rate-of-Climb: 3,800 feet per minute (1,158m/min)

Hardpoints: 2
Armament Suite:
PROPOSED ARMAMENT PACKAGE 1:
4 x 12.7mm Browning air-cooled machine guns in nose with 500 rounds each gun.
2 x 12.7mm Browning air-cooled machine guns in wings (1 to a wing) with 500 rounds each gun.

PROPOSED ARMAMENT PACKAGE 2:
2 x 20mm Hispano-Suiza cannons in nose with 60 rounds each.
2 x 12.7mm Browning air-cooled machine guns in nose.
2 x 12.7mm Browning air-cooled machine guns in wings (1 to a wing).

OPTIONAL:
2 x 165lb drop bombs (1 under each wing)

Variants:
Design 34 - Internal Grumman Designation

G-46A - Internal Grumman Designation

XP-50 - Single Prototype Model; S/N: 39-2517; fitted with 2 x Wright R-1820-67/-69 series engines; armament proposed but never installed; did not complete full flight testing.

XP-65 - "Improved" XP-50 Proposal; fitted with 2 x Wright R-2600-10 series engines; never constructed.

Operators:
the United States of America

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