Curtiss-Wright XP-55 Ascender - Wikipedia
WEBThe Curtiss-Wright XP-55 Ascender (company designation CW-24) is a 1940s United States prototype fighter aircraft built by Curtiss-Wright. Along with the Vultee XP-54 and Northrop XP-56, it resulted from United States Army Air Corps proposal R-40C issued on 27 November 1939 for aircraft with improved performance, armament, and pilot visibility ...
Curtiss XP-55-CS Ascender - National Air and Space Museum
WEBThe Air Corps designated this entry the XP-55 Ascender. After considerable testing, Air Corps test pilots and engineers judged the Ascender's performance and handling too poor for an effective combat fighter but it did demonstrate exactly where future trends in fighter design should not go.
Curtiss-Wright XP-55: Strange-Looking but Ahead of Its Time - HistoryNet
WEBFeb 17, 2018 · The Curtiss-Wright XP-55 sweptwing pusher was a plane ahead of its time. “Thinking outside the box” is a catchphrase that is heard perhaps too often today, but in 1939 it had not yet come into wide usage.
The Short, Unconventional Life of the Curtiss XP-55 Ascender
WEBDec 13, 2022 · Unlike more traditional aircraft of the time, the XP-55 design mounted a 1,275 hp Allison V-12 powerplant behind the pilot.
XP-55 Ascender: Why This Crazy Plane Never Entered Production
WEBApr 17, 2021 · The XP-55 Ascender—and propeller-driven airframes writ large—were over. Though never a spectacular plane, XP-55 Ascender was interesting to look at—but not to fly.
Curtiss XP-55-CS Ascender - Smithsonian Institution
WEBCurtiss-Wright designers stuck the main wing behind the engine and the pilot, at the tail end of the fuselage, and they mounted a short wing, or canard, near the nose. The Air Corps designated this entry the XP-55 Ascender.
Curtiss XP-55-CS Ascender | National Air and Space Museum
WEBThe Air Zoo Aerospace and Science Museum put the XP-55 on display in 2006, following extensive restoration work.
Curtiss XP-55 Ascender - Weapons and Warfare
WEBApr 3, 2020 · A special feature of the XP-55 was a propeller jettison lever located inside the cockpit to prevent the pilot from hitting the propeller during bailout. Experimental fighter of canard configuration with a pusher engine, designed in repsonse to …
WWII Era Aircraft | Air Zoo Aerospace & Science Museum
WEBQuick Facts. Curtiss-Wright XP-55. The Ascender. Era: WWII. On loan from the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution. Location: Flight Innovation Center. Competing to develop a new age pursuit plane, the Curtiss-Wright Corporation built a unique prototype.
Curtiss XP-55 Ascender - The Flawed Fighter - PlaneHistoria
WEBAug 12, 2022 · The Curtiss XP-55 Ascender was an experimental aircraft devised by Curtiss-Wright following a US Army appeal for groundbreaking fighter planes in November 1939. It was scrapped in 1944 and jokingly named ‘Ascender’ by a Curtiss technician at the same time as production and development ground to a halt.