Steve berry and his wife, elizabeth, have traveled the world researching and promoting steves many books. New japanese charting techniques revealed wiley finance book 56 may 18, 2009. American secret pusher fighters of world war ii is a fascinating ride down the development path of three secret pusher fighters that, although never reaching full production, ultimately influenced the design and development of the highly successful unmanned fighterbomber, the predator, as well as future aircraft. Vultee proposed a twinboom pusher called the xp54 and northrop championed a bobbedtail flying wing dubbed the xp56 black bullet see nasm collection. Performance of the xp55 was similar to many conventional fighters, having a top speed of 390 mph at 19,300 feet. Model n 1914 twoseat trainer powered by 100 hp 75 kw curtiss oxx engine, similar to model j but with different airfoil section.
Entry to the cockpit was said by test pilots to be rather awkward, requiring a telescoping ladder that was stored behind the pilots seat. The usaac was looking for a fighter to counter the threat of the german bf109 and the japanese zero and replace the obsolete p35s, p36s and the front line p40s just entering service. The freeboard on both port and starboard accommodates deep shelves with customdesigned stainless steel book brackets, and hull portlights. Is it my problem or amazon can do something to help me not so dumb.
The curtisswright xp55 ascender company designation cw24 is a 1940s united states prototype fighter aircraft built by curtisswright. Assieme agli xp54 e xp56, venne realizzato in seguito alla proposta r40c del 27. Curtiss was awarded an initial contract for 30 aircraft in august 1916, and an additional 14 were ordered by the united states army, which maintained a small seaplane operation. This is an englishlanguage book or magazine about aircraft andor aircraft modeling. A stone barrington novel 55 book series kindle edition. One of the xp55 prototypes, serial number 4278846, may be seen in the national air and space.
Curtiss xp55cs ascender national air and space museum. The curtiss wright xp55 ascender company designation cw24 is a 1940s united states prototype fighter aircraft built by curtiss wright. In effect, it was a flying wing with a forward trimming surface. It quickly became apparent that the aircraft was underpowered, so curtiss replaced the engine with a 150 hp 112 kw hispanosuiza, manufactured in the united states under license by wrightmartins simplex division. The xp55 came about as a result of the 1939 usaac proposal r40c, which called for a new highperformance fighter and spawned. Yet amid historys ghastliest conflict both sides found the leisure to evaluate unorthodox flying machines, in full knowledge that they would contribute nothing to the outcome. Along with the vultee xp54 and northrop xp56, it resulted from united states army air corps proposal r40c issued on 27 november 1939 for aircraft with improved performance, armament, and pilot visibility over existing fighters.
The curtiss xp55 ascender was a tailless sweptwing wwii pusher fighter design born out by the usaac 1940 fighter competition. I dont know french, but i bought this book in french. This is the serious stuffstepbystep hacks that beef up speed and. Get it today with same day delivery, order pickup or drive up. The entire surface was movable and trailed in normal flight. The exclusive biography reprint by walter isaacson isbn. Well, stop reading the cover and buy this book, because thats exactly what it teaches you. The usaac was looking for a fighter to counter the threat of the german bf109 and the japanese zero and replace the obsolete p35s, p36s and the front line p40s. Curtisswright xp55 ascender world war ii wiki fandom. The xp55 was not a true canard since it lacked a fixed forward elevator. The curtisswright xp55 ascender company designation cw24 was a 1940s united. The foreplane was not a canard in the true sense, but a free floating surface with no fixed stabilizer. Later rebuilt as model o with side by side seating.