Art is a 72 yr old modeler and builder of full size homebuilt aircraft.
He sends along some pics & video of his latest creation; a beautiful P-61 Black Widow.
Art correctly identified the mystery plane as the ill-fated McDonnell XP-67 Bat. A sleek, sinister looking craft of innovative design...
First flight: Jan 6, 1944
Power: two inverted air cooled turbo-supercharged V-12's
Weight: 20,000 lbs
Max speed attained: 405 mph
Proposed armament: six 37mm cannon (!)
Ceiling: 37,400 ft
The Bat was plagued by powerplant problems,
with both engines catching fire during taxi tests.
Another engine fire during flight testing forced an
emergency landing, with damage being too extensive to repair.
It was decided to scrap both prototypes, and cancel the program.
More info at warbirdresourcegroup.
1 comment:
Those who frequent the Small Flying Arts discussion forum may know that Art (who uses the handle 356A) is building a free flight model of the XP-67.
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