Vultee P-1015

High-Altitude Interceptor Aircraft Proposal

United States | 1941

"The Vultee P-1015 project interceptor was born from the same USAAC requirement that saw the Lockheed P-38 Lightning materialize."

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Power & Performance
Those special qualities that separate one aircraft design from another. Performance specifications presented assume optimal operating conditions for the Vultee P-1015 High-Altitude Interceptor Aircraft Proposal.

2 x Allison V-1710-C7 turbo-supercharged liquid-cooled inline piston engines developing an estimated 1,600 horsepower each and driving three-bladed propeller units in tractor arrangement.
Propulsion

258 mph
415 kph | 224 kts
Max Speed

41,010 ft
12,500 m | 8 miles
Service Ceiling

3,107 miles
5,000 km | 2,700 nm
Operational Range

4,550 ft/min
1,387 m/min
Rate-of-Climb

Structure
The nose-to-tail, wingtip-to-wingtip physical qualities of the Vultee P-1015 High-Altitude Interceptor Aircraft Proposal.

1
(MANNED)
Crew

40.9 ft
12.47 m
O/A Length

54.0 ft
(16.45 m)
O/A Width

12,125 lb
(5,500 kg)
Empty Weight

22,046 lb
(10,000 kg)
MTOW

Armament
Available supported armament and special-mission equipment featured in the design of the Vultee P-1015 High-Altitude Interceptor Aircraft Proposal .

PROPOSED:
1 x 20mm (Hispano M29(C)) automatic cannon in the nose (150 rounds estimated).
4 x 0.50 caliber Browning air-cooled Heavy Machine Guns (HMGs) in the nose (500 rounds-per-gun estimated).

Variants
Notable series variants as part of the Vultee P-1015 family line.

P-1015 - Base Project Designation; some wind tunnel testing completed before project's formal end.

Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 05/11/2020 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site; No A.I. was used in the generation of this content.

The same United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) requirement (X-608) that ultimately produced the classic, war-winning Lockheed P-38 "Lightning" single-seat, twin-engine heavy fighter also produced several lesser-known submissions from competitors of the period. This included a twin-engine submission from Vultee Aircraft Company which marketed its P-1015 project fighter against the requirement. While not selected, the aircraft nonetheless deserves attention as it sheds a little light on the thinking of the pre-World War 2 period.

Requirement X-608 appeared in February of 1937 and included submissions from a few select players including Curtiss, Lockheed, and Vultee. The requirement called for a new, all-modern single-seat high-altitude interceptor type operating on two engines. The powerplant of choice was 2 x Allison V-1710 liquid-cooled inline piston engines (with accompanying turbo-superchargers for enhanced high-altitude performance) helping to deliver a maximum speed of 360 miles-per-hour (at altitude) and a rate-of-climb of 3,333 feet-per-minute. A tricycle undercarriage was sought but not required.

The Vultee P-1015 utilized a conventional twin-engine arrangement in which each inline engine would be seated at each wing mainplane member. The nacelles would run completely through the member and extend out from the leading edge while meeting the trailing edge. The mainplanes were rounded at their tips and tapered along both edges while being mounted low and ahead of midships. The fuselage was purposefully drawn up as very slim, allowing just enough space to carry essentials including fuel stores and avionics. The cockpit was positioned well aft of a nosecone assembly which was designed to house the primary armament. The cockpit was to have a largely unobstructed canopy for excellent viewing and be positions ahead of midships. The tail unit was traditional, featuring a single vertical fin and a pair of low-set horizontal planes. The undercarriage was proposed as a "tail dragger" type with the main legs retracting inwards toward fuselage centerline at the wing roots (and not in each engine nacelle as was typical) while the tailwheel was situated under the tail in the usual way.

Structurally, the interceptor was given a running length of 40.10 feet and a wingspan of 54 feet.

Each Allison inline piston engine would drive a three bladed propeller unit in tractor fashion. The two installations would rotate in such a way as to cancel out the naturally occurring effects of torque encountered when using just a single engine. As such, the aircraft could be expected to showcase natural stability and the pilot's forward vision would remain unobstructed.

The proposed armament suite was in line with what the eventual competition winner fielded - 4 x 0.50 caliber Browning air-cooled Heavy Machine Guns (HMGs) coupled with a single 20mm automatic cannon, all to be housed in the nose assembly. This allowed for ease-of-maintenance / resupply as well as kept the weapons outside of the propeller arcs so no interrupter gear would be needed.

While this Vultee project aircraft was not awarded the USAAC contract, the design did undergo some wind tunnel testing before it met its end. These provided some promising figures for an interceptor that was never to be.

NOTE: Performance specifications found on this page are estimates on the part of the author.

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Operators
Global customers who have evaluated and/or operated the Vultee P-1015. Nations are displayed by flag, each linked to their respective national aircraft listing.

Total Production: 0 Units
Contractor(s): Vultee Aircraft - USA

[ United States (cancelled) ]

1 / 1

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Going Further...
The Vultee P-1015 High-Altitude Interceptor Aircraft Proposal appears in the following collections:

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