×
Aircraft / Aviation Vehicles & Artillery Small Arms Warships & Submarines Military Ranks Military Pay Chart (2024) Special Forces
HOME
AVIATION INDEX
MODERN AIR FORCES
AIRCRAFT BY COUNTRY
AIRCRAFT MANUFACTURERS
COMPARE AIRCRAFT
AIRCRAFT BY CONFLICT
AIRCRAFT BY TYPE
AIRCRAFT BY DECADE
WWII AIRCRAFT
X-PLANE AIRCRAFT
Aviation / Aerospace

Vultee P-1015


High-Altitude Interceptor Aircraft Proposal [ 1941 ]



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



Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 05/11/2020 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site.

VIEW SPECIFICATIONS [+]
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.©MilitaryFactory.com
Note: The above text is EXCLUSIVE to the site www.MilitaryFactory.com. It is the product of many hours of research and work made possible with the help of contributors, veterans, insiders, and topic specialists. If you happen upon this text anywhere else on the internet or in print, please let us know at MilitaryFactory AT gmail DOT com so that we may take appropriate action against the offender / offending site and continue to protect this original work.

Specifications



Vultee Aircraft - USA
Manufacturer(s)
United States (cancelled)
Operators National flag of the United States
1941
Service Year
United States
National Origin
Cancelled
Project Status
1
Crew
0
Units


AIR-TO-AIR COMBAT
General ability to actively engage other aircraft of similar form and function, typically through guns, missiles, and/or aerial rockets.
INTERCEPTION
Ability to intercept inbound aerial threats by way of high-performance, typically speed and rate-of-climb.
X-PLANE
Aircraft developed for the role of prototyping, technology demonstration, or research / data collection.


40.9 ft
(12.47 meters)
Length
54.0 ft
(16.45 meters)
Width/Span
12,125 lb
(5,500 kilograms)
Empty Weight
22,046 lb
(10,000 kilograms)
Maximum Take-Off Weight
+9,921 lb
(+4,500 kg)
Weight Difference


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 knots)
Max Speed
41,010 ft
(12,500 m | 8 miles)
Ceiling
3,107 miles
(5,000 km | 2,700 nm)
Range
4,550 ft/min
(1,387 m/min)
Rate-of-Climb


MACH Regime (Sonic)
Sub
Trans
Super
Hyper
HiHyper
ReEntry
RANGES (MPH) Subsonic: <614mph | Transonic: 614-921 | Supersonic: 921-3836 | Hypersonic: 3836-7673 | Hi-Hypersonic: 7673-19180 | Reentry: >19030


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).


0
Hardpoints


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


Military lapel ribbon for Operation Allied Force
Military lapel ribbon for the Arab-Israeli War
Military lapel ribbon for the Battle of Britain
Military lapel ribbon for the Battle of Midway
Military lapel ribbon for the Berlin Airlift
Military lapel ribbon for the Chaco War
Military lapel ribbon for the Cold War
Military lapel ribbon for the Cuban Missile Crisis
Military lapel ribbon for pioneering aircraft
Military lapel ribbon for the Falklands War
Military lapel ribbon for the French-Indochina War
Military lapel ribbon for the Golden Age of Flight
Military lapel ribbon for the 1991 Gulf War
Military lapel ribbon for the Indo-Pak Wars
Military lapel ribbon for the Iran-Iraq War
Military lapel ribbon for the Korean War
Military lapel ribbon for the 1982 Lebanon War
Military lapel ribbon for the Malayan Emergency
Military lapel ribbon representing modern aircraft
Military lapel ribbon for the attack on Pearl Harbor
Military lapel ribbon for the Six Day War
Military lapel ribbon for the Soviet-Afghan War
Military lapel ribbon for the Spanish Civil War
Military lapel ribbon for Special Forces
Military lapel ribbon for the Suez Crisis
Military lapel ribbon for the Ukranian-Russian War
Military lapel ribbon for the Vietnam War
Military lapel ribbon for Warsaw Pact of the Cold War-era
Military lapel ribbon for the WASP (WW2)
Military lapel ribbon for the World War 1
Military lapel ribbon for the World War 2
Military lapel ribbon for the Yom Kippur War
Military lapel ribbon for experimental x-plane aircraft

Images



1 / 1
Image of the Vultee P-1015
Image copyright www.MilitaryFactory.com; No Reproduction Permitted.

Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | Cookies

2024 Military Pay Chart Military Ranks DoD Dictionary Conversion Calculators Military Alphabet Code Military Map Symbols

The "Military Factory" name and MilitaryFactory.com logo are registered ® U.S. trademarks protected by all applicable domestic and international intellectual property laws. All written content, illustrations, and photography are unique to this website (unless where indicated) and not for reuse/reproduction in any form. Material presented throughout this website is for historical and entertainment value only and should not to be construed as usable for hardware restoration, maintenance, or general operation. We do not sell any of the items showcased on this site. Please direct all other inquiries to militaryfactory AT gmail.com. No A.I. was used in the generation of this content; site is 100% curated by humans.

Part of a network of sites that includes GlobalFirepower, a data-driven property used in ranking the top military powers of the world, WDMMA.org (World Directory of Modern Military Aircraft), WDMMW.org (World Directory of Modern Military Warships), SR71blackbird.org, detailing the history of the world's most iconic spyplane, and MilitaryRibbons.info, cataloguing military medals and ribbons. Special Interest: RailRoad Junction, the locomotive encyclopedia.


©2023 www.MilitaryFactory.com • All Rights Reserved • Content ©2003-2023 (20yrs)