Aviation Naval Warfare Land Systems Small Arms By Flag By Year By Tag

Tucker XP-57 (Peashooter)

1940 WORLD WAR 2 X-PLANE

History of Tucker XP-57 (Pea Shooter)

Before World War II (1939-1944), the U.S. Air Force authorities began to seriously consider the concept of a light point defense interceptor to counter the potential threat of enemy bombers in U.S. airspace.

Built with minimal strategic warfare materials (i.e. metal), the aircraft has a very low profile, yet has performance and armament suitable for the interceptor role. This spawned several light fighter programs, but none of them materialized into a viable production form to fit the role - one concept became the Tucker XP-75.

Preston Tucker took up a career as a car designer and businessman and was eventually known for his post-war 1948 Tucker sedan and light interceptors such as the "AL-5 Type" Bear in mind. It was nicknamed the "pea shooter" because of its suggested size.

He then founded Tucker Aviation in Detroit, Michigan in 1940 to assist in the future design and development of the aircraft and to advance the Army contract awarded in July 1940. Loading required a low-cost prototype known as the "XP-57" as a pursuit fighter, backed by the fabled Wrightfield.

The final design was a single-seat, single-engine development, 26.6 feet long, 28.4 feet wingspan, 8 feet high, and had an empty weight of 3,000 pounds. Unlike most contemporaries, the landing gear will be a tricycle arrangement - a fairly modern approach usually seen on aircraft under the Bell brand label. In addition, the XP-57 featured another Bell qualitythe engine was mounted behind the cockpit, and the driveshaft drove the twin-bladed propeller in front of the nose (as on the Bell P-39 Airacobra). Due to the lack of a more popular engine at the time, the liquid-cooled 720-horsepower Miller L-510-1 Dual-Series V12 was chosen for its availability and promised performance.

Top speed is estimated at 308 mph, range is up to 600 miles, and climb rate is 1,700 feet per minute. For combat, it will be armed with a 1 x 20mm cannon (60 rounds) and either 1 x .50 caliber Browning heavy machine gun (400 rounds) or 3 x .50 caliber heavy machine guns (488 rounds).

For the 20mm gun mount, the gun will be fired through the propeller hub (again as with the Bell P-39 series).

Weight will be a key feature of small designs and a technical battle. Therefore, it was decided that the wing consists of a wooden substructure covered in fabric. A tubular steel frame will provide structural support for the fuselage, and an aluminum skin will cover it.

Cockpit and engine armor were removed as their sole purpose was to add weight and hinder the performance of a fighter design meant to be both fast and maneuverable.

Work on the XP-57 began quickly, but Tucker Airways declared bankruptcy as early as February 1941almost a full year before America went to war. The company has had internal problems delaying progress, and the program has been further hampered by the U.S. Army's changing needs for fighter jets ahead of World War II - driven largely by developments in the world seen elsewhere.

So the XP-57 went nowhere and the Army allowed their contract with Tucker to go ahead and go down in history. The company was then acquired by Higgins Industries, and Tucker served as vice president until 1943 when the company focused on making guns, turrets and engines for Higgins torpedo boats.