Wednesday, June 3, 2020

Experimental fighter Valti XP-54






9 comments:

  1. Dang! That was a big fighter for the time. Based on the middle picture, it looks bigger than fighters of this time.

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  2. Isn't the manufacturer Vultee?

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    1. I believe Vultee is the way it's spelt, GUS. Twin boom resembles the P-38. But that's where it ends.

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  3. looks like the Corsair designer had a meeting with the P-38 designer

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  4. Too many innovations in front of an engine that didn't perform

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  5. Without cheating and googling it first, it looks familiar. I think the reason they struck the engine in back was to stick an early air to air radar in the nose. A night fighter I believe.

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  6. The nose was 'aimable' in that it was not fixed and could move a little up, down, side to side, in order for the pilot to get a better shot.

    Problem being that, well, cute but really didn't work and the guns used tended to jam.

    Not to mention though the pusher prop setup is more aerodynamic than a tractor prop, you lose a lot of forced cooling when on the ground or at low speeds.

    Cute idea, pusher plane with a nose of guns, but, well, poor results.

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  7. It looks cheap. Like someone put lightning booms on a WW2 era jap suicide plane cheap. Like 1 way trip cheap.

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  8. it occurs to me that it used the God awful twin crankcase allison engine just as General Motors attempt at a fighter which also emulated the way GM designed cars...bits of this and that slap-dashed together. or a R-4360 could fit, me thinks. didn't look it up, just a guess.

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