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Curtiss XP-37 (Allison Hawk)

1937 WORLD WAR 2 X-PLANE

Curtis XP-37 (Alison Hawke) History

The American Curtiss P-36 Eagle was one of the first of all modern fighter jets to appear before World War II (1939-1945). It was joined by the British Hawker Hurricane and the German Messerschmitt Bf 109, among others, but did not have the wartime success of their contemporaries. Equipped with the air-cooled Pratt & Whitney "Twin Wasp" radial piston engine, a total of 215 P. 36s were produced and another 900 were exported under the name "Hawk 75".

The design eventually evolved into the classic P-40 Warhawk.

The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was looking for added value for its P-36 until 1937 when it commissioned Curtiss to develop an aircraft with an Allison V-1710 turbocharged inline piston engine producing 1,150 horsepower. This resulted in the prototype "XP-37" monoplane, which retained many of its original components, including its streamlined fuselage.

To compensate for the length and weight of the new nose engine unit (and to better balance the revised center of gravity), the cockpit was placed further aft along the dorsal spine, immediately distinguishing it from earlier P-36s.

In this configuration, the aircraft first flew in April 1937 and reached a top speed of 340 mph, compared to the P-36A's 313 mph. However, the all-important turbo proved to be a nuisance during testing, with growing concerns about the main-wing aircraft's nose length and position, which significantly reduced pilots' forward visibility.

Visibility at the rear of the plane wasn't much better, with the raised fuselage spine and tail further obscuring any danger of approaching from behind.

Nonetheless, USAAC authorities were convinced of the potential performance gains of this stylish entry-level product and ordered the XP-37 as a "YP-37" service test form in a 13-part batch order. Engineers continued to work on the turbo, but reliability remained an issue.

The development-oriented YP-37 made its maiden flight in June 1939, but the dynamic aircraft was quickly shelved in favor of a more promising legacy effort, becoming the P-40 Warhawk, which became A highly pivotal American fighter year in the early war.