Bob Wright
Hawkeye
Recent post here recalled the comic-book heroes The Blackhawks. In this comic-book-world, these men flew the F5F Grumann Skyrocket.
The Skyrocket was designed to be a twin engined carrier based fighter. At the time of its origin, the design of the F4F Wildcat was not yet finalized, especially if it were to be a biplane or a monoplane. Yet Gruman was working on a twin engine monoplane design!
To keep the airplane as small as possible, the nose did not extend past the leading edge of the wing, this moved the engines closer together. The tail was a twin tail design, giving the same amount of fin area while cutting down the height. Not a bubble design, but the cockpit was elevated for all-around visibility.
The Air Force was interested, and ordered a prototype, which rivalled the Lockheed P-38 in speed. A failed supercharger resulted in a crash, which to the Navy's relief, caused the Air Force to concentrate on the P-38. The Gruman design was designated the XP-50.
The F5F never went into production, but it did result in the developement of the F7F Tigercat, used in the Korean War.
Bob Wright
The Skyrocket was designed to be a twin engined carrier based fighter. At the time of its origin, the design of the F4F Wildcat was not yet finalized, especially if it were to be a biplane or a monoplane. Yet Gruman was working on a twin engine monoplane design!
To keep the airplane as small as possible, the nose did not extend past the leading edge of the wing, this moved the engines closer together. The tail was a twin tail design, giving the same amount of fin area while cutting down the height. Not a bubble design, but the cockpit was elevated for all-around visibility.
The Air Force was interested, and ordered a prototype, which rivalled the Lockheed P-38 in speed. A failed supercharger resulted in a crash, which to the Navy's relief, caused the Air Force to concentrate on the P-38. The Gruman design was designated the XP-50.
The F5F never went into production, but it did result in the developement of the F7F Tigercat, used in the Korean War.
Bob Wright
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