VULTEE XA-41

The American'Vultee XA-41' was originally ordered as a dive bomber, however the contract was later amended to change the role to low-level ground attack, after combat experience lead the Army Air Corps to believe that dive-bombers were too vulnerable to enemy fighters. Although the XA-41 was a potent weapons system, the design was overtaken by more advanced technology, and never entered production.

Contents

Design and development

Testing

Specifications

References

External links

Design and development

The Vultee engineering team decided early in the design process to build the XA-41 (company Model 90) around the huge 3,000 hp Pratt & Whitney R-4360 four-row, 28-cylinder radial engine. From certain angles, the Model 90's massive wing resembled the earlier Vultee Vengeance wing. The straight leading edge was matched to a sharply tapered trailing edge and pronounced dihedral on the outer wing panels. Designed to carry both a large internal load along with external stores, the XA-41 presented a formidable profile. A single-place cockpit set in line with the wing root was a daunting 15 ft high.
As operational priorities shifted during its development phase, the original order for two XA-41 prototypes was cancelled, although the USAAF pressed for the completion of one prototype as an engine testbed for the Wasp Major (the same engine that the Boeing B-29 would use).

Testing

Flying for the first time on 11 February 1944, the sole XA-41 (S/N ''43-35124'') proved to have good performance with a maximum speed of 354 mph reached in testing and "superb maneuverability, being able to out-turn a P-51B Mustang ^[1]". However with the reduction in military orders due to the approaching end of the war, no production contract was placed, and the aircraft was used as an engine testbed for the USAAF as well as being evaluated by the U.S. Navy in comparison with other contemporary attack aircraft, especially the Douglas AD-1 Skyraider and Martin AM-1 Mauler. After its Navy trials, the XA-41, bearing civil registration ''NX60373N'', was consigned to the Pratt & Whitney division of United Aircraft to continue engine tests. The evaluations continued until 1950 before the XA-41 was scrapped.

Specifications

★ 'Crew': 1
'Dimensions'

★ 'Length:' 48 ft 8 in (14.83 m)

★ 'Wingspan': 54 ft 0 in (16.46 m)

★ 'Height': 13 ft 11 in (4.24 m)

★ 'Wing area': 540 sq. ft (50.2 m²)
'Weights'

★ 'Empty': 13,400 lb

★ 'Loaded': 18,800 lb

★ 'Maximum takeoff': 24,188 lb (10,971 kg)
'Powerplant'

★ 'Engine': 1 Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major radial

★ 'Power': 3,000 hp (2.24 MW)
'Performance'

★ Maximum speed: 363 mph (584 km/h)

★ Combat range: 800 mi (1,290 km)

★ Ferry range: 950 mi

★ Service ceiling: 29,300 ft (8,900 m)

★ Rate of climb: 2,730 ft/min
'Armament'

★ 'Guns': 4 wing-mounted .50 cal machine guns

★ 'Bombs': 6,400 lb (2,900 kg) of ordinance

★ 'Rockets': 8–12

References

1. Thompson 1992, p. 119.


★ McCullough, Anson. "Grind 'Em Out Ground Attack: The Search for the Elusive Fighter Bomber". ''Wings'' Vol. 25, No. 4, August 1995.

★ Thompson, Jonathan. ''Vultee Aircraft 1932–1947''. Santa Ana, California: Narkiewicz/Thompson, 1992. ISBN 0-913322-02-4.

External links

★ Vultee XA-41