Curtiss XP-46

History of the Curtis XP-46

The smaller XP-46 was designed to address the shortcomings encountered by the P-40 Warhawk platform. Unfortunately for Curtis, the XP-46 would be doomed due to poor performance and sluggish capabilities -- essentially, the company itself was doomed to produce fighter jets for the military.

The XP-46 should do everything on the P-40 and improve it. Along the way, the shortcomings of the 1930s system will be eliminated.

The result is a small, nimble fighter that can reach dream speeds in excess of 400 mph and is built in the same style as the successful Bf 109s and Supermarine Spitfires - a fighter the U.S. Army can use to shoot just about anyone for the type actions in all aspects.

With the production of the P-40 Warhawk well underway, Curtiss designers sold the idea of ??a more powerful successor to the USAAF, from which they ordered two prototypes. The design calls for the system to be powered by a 1,150-horsepower Allison-branded liquid-cooled engine that fits in a smaller frame. The weapons - proposed but never installed on either prototype - consisted of eight. 30 caliber machine guns mounted on the wings, and two more.

The nose has a 50-caliber system.

When the second prototype flew as the XP-46A, the system had already shown clear signs that it could never really compete, even if it was intended to replace the outdated P-40. The XP-46 looked very much like the P-40 itself, but it proved slow to respond to fighter jets, and 400 mph never came close.

The sample was later scrapped, and the Curtiss company ended -- leaving the P-40 Warhawk as the only symbol of its boom in building fighter jets.

Specification

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Performance

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