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Curtiss P-304

History

Curtis had one of the classic WW2 era (1939-1945) fighters in the P-40 Warhawk (detailed elsewhere on this page), but this design was quickly replaced by those with greater performance and firepower replace. Still, the company tried to stay relevant until the war ended in 1945, introducing several imaginative fighter concepts, including propeller and jet power. One of the latter was actually a dual proposal under the project name "P-304" and focused on the design of a new form of single-seat jet fighter using data gathered from Curtis' earlier XP-55 "Ascender" Research.

Jager prototype (described elsewhere on this page). The P-304 attempted to improve upon the XP-55's design by installing a jet engine, while retaining many of the unique features of the propeller-driven Ascender fighter.

The layout of the single-seat, single-engine XP-55 is the most memorable quality, as it places the engines in the rear of the fuselage, the main aircraft with swept wings, and the nose-mounted canards (smaller, forewings). ) up. The pilot's cockpit is located directly in front of the center of the boat, the engine is located directly behind him, providing the entire bow assembly room for all predetermined weapons - 4 x .50 heavy machine guns. Modern tricycle landing gear is suitable for ground work and is powered by an Allison inline engine driving a three-bladed propeller in a "slider" configuration. For stability and control, the wing main planes were given vertical planes at their tips.

Compared to other fighter jets of the time, the XP-55 certainly looked like the future of combat flight. The first flight took place on July 19, 1943.

However, only three copies were eventually made, two of which were lost in the crash. Despite its layout, the aircraft failed to outperform the latest propeller designs, and despite its uniqueness, contributed little to the mix.

The jet-powered shape also began to take center stage, further dooming the XP-55 project.

Based on this experience, Curtis began flying his P-304 in March 1945. The single-seat, single-engine format was used again, and again the canards were mounted on the nose. The aircraft will retain its nose-mounted weapons and have its engines mounted aft of the fuselage behind the pilot.

The main wing is swept back to encourage high speed flight. The main difference between the previous XP-55 and the P-304 was the repositioning of the vertical tail from wingtip to tail, now as a single tail.

In reality, the P-304 proposal was nothing more than a jet-engined XP-55 with some modifications to accommodate the new approach. The expected engine is a General Electric TG-180 turbojet with 4,000 pounds of thrust.

In order to improve the poor performance figures encountered while flying the XP-55, the P-304 was designed with a turbojet engine from the start, but this soon led to two different forms being proposed: the P-304-4 P The -304-5 has a fuselage-mounted air intake for engine intake, while the P-304-5 has side-mounted underwing air intakes. Both designs see the engine exhaust through a single port in the rear end of the fuselage, which is located under the vertical stabilizer.

In addition, the main swept-wing aircraft, which promote high-speed flight, are shoulder-mounted and located near the midship. The XP-55's design retains the tricycle landing gear, and aluminum alloys will be used throughout the manufacture of both aircraft.

Curtis engineers wanted to address several issues with the XP-55 with their new P-304 - namely performance (including range) and stability/control. The use of wingtip fuel tanks increased range, a common feature of early jet fighters.

Curtis engineers estimate top speed to be between 600 and 622 mph, depending on altitude, with a possible climb rate of 5,530 feet per minute. The combat radius is 500 miles.

The combined length of the two planes is about 33 feet, the P-304-5 is a few inches longer, and the P-304-4 weighs hundreds of pounds due to its longer duct assembly and reinforced landing gear required for special configurations. The P-304-4 will also have more internal fuel storage to achieve the required range and offset its increased weight.

Neither P-304-4 nor P-304-5 go beyond paperwork and concept art. The end of the war in 1945 and the ensuing military withdrawal made remote programs like the P-304 a complete failureleaving their potential and ultimate impact to the reader's imagination.