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Boeing XB-59

1949 COLD WAR X-PLANE

History of the Boeing XB-59

The advantages of the US Air Force's supersonic jet strategic bomber in the early days of the Cold War led to the cancellation of the conventionally powered Boeing XB-55 in 1949. The XB-55 was developed as the successor to the purely jet-powered B-47 "Stratojet", even before prototypes of the series flew. However, problems with the proposed turboprop arrangement and the B-47's success in the field led to the cancellation of the XB-55.

Instead, those ideas (and some resources from the XB-55 project) have now turned to a new project -- a supersonic Boeing bomber in the form of the "XB-59" (Enterprise 701).

The new bomber is classified as a medium-range platform with the usual supersonic elements - a jet engine mounted in the fuselage of the aircraft, a streamlined fuselage, a main aircraft and a tail with swept wings. As usual, the cockpit remains above the nose, with the wing main aircraft mounted on the shoulders along the sides of the fuselage. The tail consists of a vertical tail and a centrally mounted horizontal plane. Four engines will be used to power the design, with two GE J73-X24A turbojets with afterburner capability to achieve the required straight-line speed.

The engines were placed at the root of the wings for aerodynamic efficiency and ejected from the sides of the fuselage.

Boeing retains some features of its earlier B-47 approach (XB-55 by the way) in the XB-59 proposal, namely coupled engines, embedded wings, and a "bicycle" landing gear arrangement (outriggers support the wings) ). Like the B-47, it can also carry three operators, while the XB-55 has only 10.

Overall dimensions of the proposed product include a length of 123.3 feet, a wingspan of 81.3 feet, and a height of 25.4 feet. The kerb weight is 63,000 pounds and the total weight is 148,000 pounds.

Estimated performance specs are a top speed of Mach 2, a range of up to 2,380 miles, and a service ceiling of 51,000 feet. In addition to an undisclosed internal bomb load, the XB-59 is also intended to carry a 1 x 30mm cannon in the tail position to counter the threat of enemy interceptors emerging from the rear of the aircraft.

The B-58 "Cheater" submitted by Convair finally met the supersonic requirements (detailed elsewhere on this page), leaving the XB-59 with no future. No prototypes were ordered/built and the project was cancelled before the end of 1952.