View source for Engineering:Lockheed XP-49

{{short description|1942 fighter aircraft prototype by Lockheed}}
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{|{{Infobox Aircraft Begin
  |name = XP-49
  |image = Lockheed_XP-49_40-3055_(15954712527).jpg
  |caption =
}}{{Infobox Aircraft Type
  |type =Fighter
  |national origin=United States
  |manufacturer =[[Company:Lockheed Corporation|Lockheed Corporation]]
  |designer =Clarence Johnson
  |first flight =11 November 1942
  |introduced =
  |retired =
  |status =Cancelled
  |primary user =
  |more users =
  |produced =
  |number built =1
  |unit cost =
  |developed from= [[Engineering:Lockheed P-38 Lightning|Lockheed P-38 Lightning]]
  |variants with their own articles =
}}
|}

The '''Lockheed XP-49''' (company '''Model 522''') was an advancement on the P-38 Lightning for a fighter in response to U.S. Army Air Corps proposal 39-775. Intended to use the new 24-cylinder Pratt & Whitney X-1800 engine, this proposal, which was for an aircraft substantially similar to the P-38, was assigned the designation '''XP-49''', while the competing Grumman Model G-46 was awarded second place and designated [[Engineering:Grumman XP-50|XP-50]].

==History==
Ordered in October 1939 and approved on January 8, 1940, the XP-49 was to feature a pressurized cockpit and armament of two {{convert|20|mm|abbr=on}} cannon and four {{convert|.50|in|1|abbr=on}} machine guns. Two months into the contract, a decision was made to substitute the [[Company:Continental Motors Company|Continental]] XI-1430-1 (or IV-1430) for the X-1800. The XP-49, ''40-3055'', first flew on 11 November 1942. The prototype force-landed on 1 January 1943, when the port landing gear failed to lock down due to combined hydraulic and electrical system failures.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/AARmonthly/Jan1943S.htm|title=January 1943 USAAF Stateside Accident Reports|access-date=2011-07-25|archive-date=2022-04-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220415060534/https://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/AARmonthly/Jan1943S.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> The XP-49 next flew 16 February 1943, after repairs were made. Preliminary flight data showed performance was not sufficiently better than the production P-38, especially given the questionable future of the XI-1430 engine, to warrant disruption of the production line to introduce the new model aircraft.{{cn|date=August 2015}}<!--true, but cite is wanted. What does Jones say?--> Consideration of quantity production was therefore abandoned.

The aircraft was flown to Wright Field, and after various problems,<!--such as?--> further work on the XP-49 was halted, and Lockheed focused their energies on improving the P-38 instead.

==Specifications (XP-49)==
{{Aircraft specs
|prime units?=imp


|crew=One
|length ft=40
|length in=1
|length m=12.2 
|span ft=52 
|span m=15.8 
|height ft=9
|height in=10
|height m=3.0 
|wing area sqft=327.5 
|wing area sqm=30 
|empty weight lb=15,410 
|empty weight kg=6990 
|gross weight lb=18,750 
|gross weight kg=8505 
|eng1 name=Continental XI-1430-1
|eng1 type=[[Engineering:V engine|inverted V-12s]]
|eng1 number=2
|eng1 hp=1,600  
|eng1 kw=1,193 
|max speed mph=406 
|max speed kmh=653 
|max speed note=15,000 ft (4,570 m)
|range miles=679 
|range km=1,093 
|climb rate ftmin=3,300 
|climb rate ms=16.8 
|power/mass= |armament=
* 2 × 20 mm (.79 in) cannons
* 4 × 0.5 in (12.7 mm) machine guns
}}

==See also==
{{aircontent
|related=
* [[Engineering:Lockheed P-38 Lightning|Lockheed P-38 Lightning]]
* [[Engineering:Lockheed XP-58 Chain Lightning|Lockheed XP-58 Chain Lightning]]
|similar aircraft=
* [[Engineering:Grumman XP-50|Grumman XP-50]]
|see also=
|lists=
* [[Engineering:List of aircraft of World War II|List of aircraft of World War II]]
}}

==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist|2}}
===Bibliography===
{{refbegin}}
* Green, William. ''War Planes of the Second World War, Volume Four: Fighters''. London: MacDonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd., 1961 (Sixth impression 1969). {{ISBN|0-356-01448-7}}.
* Green, William and Swanborough, Gordon. ''WW2 Aircraft Fact Files: US Army Air Force Fighters, Part 2''. London: Macdonald and Jane's Publishers Ltd., 1978. {{ISBN|0-354-01072-7}}.
{{refend}}

==External links==

{{Lockheed}}
{{USAF fighters}}

[[Category:Twin-boom aircraft]]
[[Category:Mid-wing aircraft]]
[[Category:Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft]]

{{Sourceattribution|Lockheed XP-49}}