Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Wishlist => Topic started by: STEELE on November 09, 2011, 06:56:27 AM
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On March 11, 1939, the USAAC Materiel Division called for a new type of twin-engined, high-performance interceptor fighter. The successful entry was, however, to derive as many design features as possible from already existing aircraft. The Lockheed entry was a progressive development of the P-38 Lightning, and was given the company designation of Model 222. The Model 222 had the same general arrangement as the P-38, but featured a pressure cabin and was powered by a pair of turbosupercharged twenty-four cylinder Pratt & Whitney X-1800-SA2-G (military designation XH-2600) liquid-cooled engines which were supposed to develop somewhere between 2000 and 2200 horsepower. Lockheed proposed to replace these engines by a pair of 2300 hp Wright R-2160 Tornado turbosupercharged radials in production aircraft. Armament was to be a pair of 20-mm cannon and four 0.50-inch machine guns. Total fuel capacity was to be 300 US gallons, as compared to 230 US gallons for the early production P-38. The Model 222 was rather optimistically estimated to have a top speed of 473 mph at 20,000 feet when powered by the Pratt & Whitney XH-2600s, and a speed of no less than 500 mph at the same altitude when powered by the Wright Tornadoes.
A contract for a single XP-49 prototype was officially issued on January 8, 1940. Because the Lockheed company was preoccupied with the P-38 Lightning, work on the XP-49 proceeded quite slowly during the early months of 1940. Both the USAAC and Lockheed soon came to realize that with either the Pratt & Whitney XH-2600 or the Wright R-2160 engines, the XP-49 would be seriously overpowered.
On January 1, 1943, the XP-49 was damaged during an emergency landing at Muroc AAB after a simultaneous inflight failure of both the hydraulic and the electrical systems.. By that time, the Army had lost all interest in the XP-49, since the performance was actually inferior to that of the standard P-38G which was already in service. In addition, the questionable future of the troublesome Continental engine caused the Army to abandon any further consideration of quantity production of the XP-49.
However, things changed quickly at that point. As combat experience with the P-38 in Russia grew, calls were mounting for the troublesome liquid-cooled engine installation to be replaced by a radial engine. This would ease operations from the crude Russian airfields as well as reducing maintenance. Initially, Lockheed examined installing a pair of Wright R-2600-12 Cyclones rated at 1,700 horsepower but those engines proved to be unsuited to turbocharging. The alternative was to use a pair of Pratt & Whitney R-2800-9 Double Wasp engines rated at 2,000 horsepower. This was the option selected.
The problem was that, while the depth of the R-2800 was compatible with the existing boom structure, the engine’s width was 20 inches greater and that could not be easily accommodated. At that point, somebody remembered the XP-49 sitting out on an airfield somewhere. The booms there had been designed to accommodate much larger engines and could be modified to include the R-2800.
The result was the XP-49A, an aircraft that was effectively a hybrid of the proposed XP-38H and the XP-49. The weight of the XP-49 was reduced by deletion of the pressurized cockpit and the elaborate cooling system used for the liquid-cooled engines. The XP-49A proved to have sparkling flying capabilities, exhibiting a clear improvement over the P-38, able to "fly rings around the Lightning" in the words of one pilot. The only problem was an outbreak of minor but troublesome fuel leakage problems that were eventually solved. At that point the XP-49A was ordered into production.
Variants
Lockheed P-49B Lightning
The P-49B was virtually identical to the P-49A except for the installation of a low-pressure oxygen system. Production deliveries started to US-based units in October 1943 with the type reaching the Russian Front in January 1944.
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Maximum speed of 426 mph at 15,000 feet, 384 mph at 10,000 feet, and 347 mph at sea level. Initial climb rate was 3,300 feet per minute, and the P-49B could climb to 20,000 feet in 8.7 minutes. Normal range was 679 miles, and maximum range was 1800 miles. Service ceiling was 37,500 feet. Weights were 15,410 pounds empty and 18,750 pounds loaded. Wingspan was 52 feet 0 inches, length was 40 feet 1 inch, height was 9 feet 9 1/2 inches and wing area was 327.5 square feet. Armament was 2 20-mm cannon with 170 rpg and four 0.50-inch machine guns with 300 rpg
Lockheed P-49C Lightning
The P-49C was fitted with automatic oil radiator. An M-2C cannon took the place of the M-1, and two underwing racks capable of carrying 1,600 pounds each were installed. The first of 226 P-49C-5-Los went into service in May 1944. They were followed 375 P-49C-15-LOs were fitted with B-33 instead of B-13 turbosuperchargers which gave improved high-altitude performance.
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April already?
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:lol
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Steele you should link or attribute when you copy paste from someone's website.
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bet he found the info on omnipedia...even wikipedia is more accurate when it comes to this plane.
sorry steele, more reliable sources show the xp-49 never went past experimental stage.
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bet he found the info on omnipedia...even wikipedia is more accurate when it comes to this plane.
The main difference: Omnipedia is strictly and intentionally fictional :D
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The main difference: Omnipedia is strictly and intentionally fictional :D
I've never heard of omnipedia before. My question is: why? :headscratch:
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I've never heard of omnipedia before. My question is: why? :headscratch:
You can also ask: Why should one have heard? ;) There's a myriad of sites about fictional alternate universes, this is just another one...
Important Note.
This Website is a work of fiction set in an alternate universe. While based on certain historical events any similarity, of characters to persons living or dead, their actions and events surrounding them are purely coincidental. Although the names of historical characters appear, they do not necessarily represent the same people we know in our reality.
The novels on which this Omnipedia is based are:(...)
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On March 11, 1939, the USAAC Materiel Division called for a new type of twin-engined, high-performance interceptor fighter. The successful entry was, however, to derive as many design features as possible from already existing aircraft. The Lockheed entry was a progressive development of the P-38 Lightning, and was given the company designation of Model 222. The Model 222 had the same general arrangement as the P-38, but featured a pressure cabin and was powered by a pair of turbosupercharged twenty-four cylinder Pratt & Whitney X-1800-SA2-G (military designation XH-2600) liquid-cooled engines which were supposed to develop somewhere between 2000 and 2200 horsepower. Lockheed proposed to replace these engines by a pair of 2300 hp Wright R-2160 Tornado turbosupercharged radials in production aircraft. Armament was to be a pair of 20-mm cannon and four 0.50-inch machine guns. Total fuel capacity was to be 300 US gallons, as compared to 230 US gallons for the early production P-38. The Model 222 was rather optimistically estimated to have a top speed of 473 mph at 20,000 feet when powered by the Pratt & Whitney XH-2600s, and a speed of no less than 500 mph at the same altitude when powered by the Wright Tornadoes.
A contract for a single XP-49 prototype was officially issued on January 8, 1940. Because the Lockheed company was preoccupied with the P-38 Lightning, work on the XP-49 proceeded quite slowly during the early months of 1940. Both the USAAC and Lockheed soon came to realize that with either the Pratt & Whitney XH-2600 or the Wright R-2160 engines, the XP-49 would be seriously overpowered.
On January 1, 1943, the XP-49 was damaged during an emergency landing at Muroc AAB after a simultaneous inflight failure of both the hydraulic and the electrical systems.. By that time, the Army had lost all interest in the XP-49, since the performance was actually inferior to that of the standard P-38G which was already in service. In addition, the questionable future of the troublesome Continental engine caused the Army to abandon any further consideration of quantity production of the XP-49.
However, things changed quickly at that point. As combat experience with the P-38 in Russia grew, calls were mounting for the troublesome liquid-cooled engine installation to be replaced by a radial engine. This would ease operations from the crude Russian airfields as well as reducing maintenance. Initially, Lockheed examined installing a pair of Wright R-2600-12 Cyclones rated at 1,700 horsepower but those engines proved to be unsuited to turbocharging. The alternative was to use a pair of Pratt & Whitney R-2800-9 Double Wasp engines rated at 2,000 horsepower. This was the option selected.
The problem was that, while the depth of the R-2800 was compatible with the existing boom structure, the engine’s width was 20 inches greater and that could not be easily accommodated. At that point, somebody remembered the XP-49 sitting out on an airfield somewhere. The booms there had been designed to accommodate much larger engines and could be modified to include the R-2800.
The result was the XP-49A, an aircraft that was effectively a hybrid of the proposed XP-38H and the XP-49. The weight of the XP-49 was reduced by deletion of the pressurized cockpit and the elaborate cooling system used for the liquid-cooled engines. The XP-49A proved to have sparkling flying capabilities, exhibiting a clear improvement over the P-38, able to "fly rings around the Lightning" in the words of one pilot. The only problem was an outbreak of minor but troublesome fuel leakage problems that were eventually solved. At that point the XP-49A was ordered into production.
Variants
Lockheed P-49B Lightning
The P-49B was virtually identical to the P-49A except for the installation of a low-pressure oxygen system. Production deliveries started to US-based units in October 1943 with the type reaching the Russian Front in January 1944.
Heh...
The above is cut-paste from here: http://tbo.wikidot.com/p-49 (http://tbo.wikidot.com/p-49)
Omnipedia... :D
A bit more credible history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_XP-49 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_XP-49)
Ordered in October 1939 and approved on January 8, 1940, the X-1800-powered XP-49 would feature a pressurized cockpit and armament of two 20 mm (.79 in) cannon and four 0.5 in (12.7 mm) machine guns. However, after two months into the contract a decision was made to substitute the Continental XI-1430-1 (or IV-1430) twelve cylinder liquid-cooled inverted vee engines for the X-1800. The XP-49, 40-3055, first flew on 11 November 1942. A crash landing on 1 January 1943 [1] occurred when the port landing gear failed to lock down due to a combined hydraulic and electric failure, and the XP-49 flew again on 16 February 1943 after repairs were made. The preliminary flight data showed that performance of the XP-49 was not sufficiently better than the production P-38, and with a questionable future for the XI-1430 engine, to warrant disruption of the production line to introduce the new model aircraft. Consideration of quantity production was therefore abandoned.
The aircraft was flown to Wright Field, and after various problems further work on the XP-49 was halted.
Exactly one prototype was built.
EDIT/A bit late but I'll leave it here. :)/EDIT
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You can also ask: Why should one have heard? ;)
Oh, sorry. I meant "Why would they do this?" not "why haven't I heard?" :lol
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Oh, sorry. I meant "Why would they do this?"
I'd guess the same reason why people like to create fiction in the first place.
I have done that too... :D
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Well I can understand fan fic, or just writing fiction.... But to create entire alternate universes full of fake info just in case anybody wants to use it? It's silly!
When writing, you make up the info when you need it. You don't go around making it up just for the sake of making it up!
Oh well... At least I know what "omnipedia" is now.
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Well I can understand fan fic, or just writing fiction.... But to create entire alternate universes full of fake info just in case anybody wants to use it? It's silly!
They didn't do that over there. This wiki is based on a series of novels by Stuart Slade. Insomuch it's similar like a Star Trek or a LOTR wiki.
But another thing I want to comment on in general
When writing, you make up the info when you need it. You don't go around making it up just for the sake of making it up!
Yes you do. Because that's also what an author of a novel does: He is making things up for the very sake of doing it. A novel is just one form of making things up. A fictional encyclopedia is just another form. You can present a created "universe" in many different forms.
Interesting topic for the Oclub... ;)
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Hrm... Okay then, that does make a little more sense. This Slade dude was making up some funky history, though. :confused:
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+1 for plane
-1 for prototype "not squad strength"
-100 for the copy/paste job
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+1 for plane
-1 for prototype "not squad strength"
-100 for the copy/paste job
(((~ ))>O_o))>
I found it pretty interesting, (the plane) and a good idea, why this guy made up so much stuff is beyond me :rolleyes:
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sorry steele, more reliable sources show the xp-49 never went past experimental stage.
So I take it it never saw action. -1
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Sounds like it's time to resurrect the P51VLR (20mm) again :)
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OOooo can I throw in the YB-40? :D At least it DID see combat.
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Sounds like it's time to resurrect the P51VLR (20mm) again :)
:aok Please, oh please do :D
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OOooo can I throw in the YB-40? :D At least it DID see combat.
the YB-40 was so slow it could not keep up with normal bombers still i would love to have it
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So I take it it never saw action. -1
X in a US planes title refers to it being a prototype
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X in a US planes title refers to it being a prototype
:bhead
"X" is experimental
"Y" is prototype
I'd say something impolite about you being a mental deficient, but I think Skuzzy is busy enough as is, so I will forego saying that you are a schmuck for getting something so simple so wrong.