Chance Vought V-343 Two Seat Night Fighter Proposal

Bill S

Bill S

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According to what I have found thus far CVA submitted the V-343 to the US Navy in October 1945 as a twin seat carrier based night fighter. I have not yet uncovered what version of the V-343 they submitted. So far I have found a few drawings/mentions of:
V-343-A-1 with three Westinghouse 24C-4 engines
V-343-B-1 with two General Electric T6-100 turbojet engines with shaft driven propellers, single vertical
V-343-B-2 with two General Electric T6-100 turbojet engines with shaft driven propellers, dual vertical

Attached for your viewing pleasure:
V-343A Fuel System Diagram
V-343-B-1 General Arrangement
V-343-B-2 General Arrangement
V-343-B Maintenance Access Diagram
V-343-B Electronic Equipment Installation

All files courtesy of Vought Historical Archives.

Enjoy!

bill
 

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Brilliant! But what do you mean by "single vertical" and "dual vertical" in the description of the -B-1 and -B-2 variants?
 
Sorry, number of vertical stabilizers. Look at the two general arrangements and you will see the difference.


bill


Stargazer2006 said:
Brilliant! But what do you mean by "single vertical" and "dual vertical" in the description of the -B-1 and -B-2 variants?
Click to expand...
 
Here is a general arrangement for the V-343-A-1
Courtesy of the Vought Heritage Archives


bill
 

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Hi Bill,
Thanks for the drawings. I have one question, though. The V-343 A-1 clearly shows the intakes for the third engine in the fuselage. The intakes are in the wing roots, but have you run across any indication of the exhaust/nozzle location? It appears to have a solid tail. I'm guessing maybe under the trailing edge of the wing roots, sort of like a Seahawk, but that's just a guess. I didn't know if maybe you found a more in depth description of the configuration. Regards.
 
Sundog said:
Hi Bill,
Thanks for the drawings. I have one question, though. The V-343 A-1 clearly shows the intakes for the third engine in the fuselage. The intakes are in the wing roots, but have you run across any indication of the exhaust/nozzle location? It appears to have a solid tail. I'm guessing maybe under the trailing edge of the wing roots, sort of like a Seahawk, but that's just a guess. I didn't know if maybe you found a more in depth description of the configuration. Regards.
Click to expand...

See the first drawing that he posted. The exhaust is under the aft fuselage, like the jet on the first D558-2s.
 

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Thanks. I kind of thought that's what it was, but I wasn't sure.
 
Here is a drawing of the electronics installation for the V-343A version
Vought Aircraft Heritage Foundation


bill
 

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Here is the General Arrangement for the V-343A aircraft
Vought Aircraft Heritage Foundation


bill
 

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Found somewhere on the Internet.

Piotr
 

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Fantastic the things that get traded on the web! Thanks a lot for sharing this beauty.
 
Found a couple more drawings of interest on the V-343. The first is the fuel system for the V-343A showing tank locations and fuel pumps that were to be located on the propeller drive gearing. The second set of two will interest TT as they had to trim the horizontal stabilizers/elevators to provide 12" clearance for the deck elevators.
 

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Thanks Bill. My first thought was, "If the US decided to steal the DH Mosquito design..." My question is, since this is a Chance Vought design, did the outer wings fold up? Or more like Grumman did they fold back? I am going to assume they folded up.
 
yasotay said:
Thanks Bill. My first thought was, "If the US decided to steal the DH Mosquito design..." My question is, since this is a Chance Vought design, did the outer wings fold up? Or more like Grumman did they fold back? I am going to assume they folded up.
Click to expand...
They were intended to fold up. I don't recall any Vought design that folded back like Grumman. The most complex was proposed for the XS2U-1 https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/chance-vought-v-343-two-seat-night-fighter-proposal.14398/
 
Further to the discussion of the wing fold for the V-343 here are a couple of images showing the wings in folded position on the jet powered and turboprop versions.
 

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Last edited:
Sundog said:
Hi Bill,
Thanks for the drawings. I have one question, though. The V-343 A-1 clearly shows the intakes for the third engine in the fuselage. The intakes are in the wing roots, but have you run across any indication of the exhaust/nozzle location? It appears to have a solid tail. I'm guessing maybe under the trailing edge of the wing roots, sort of like a Seahawk, but that's just a guess. I didn't know if maybe you found a more in depth description of the configuration. Regards.
Click to expand...
@Sundog hopefully this will answer your question on center engine exhaust.
 

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Bill S said:
Further to the discussion of the wing fold for the V-343 here are a couple of images showing the wings in folded position on the jet powered and turboprop versions.
Click to expand...
The wing fold on the jet version seems rather unique.
 
1651451919930.png

Interesting hook stowage...

Great thread. BTW! I'm a bit of a Vought fan and have never seen these drawings before. Thank you to all who have contributed!
 
yasotay said:
Bill S said:
Further to the discussion of the wing fold for the V-343 here are a couple of images showing the wings in folded position on the jet powered and turboprop versions.
Click to expand...
The wing fold on the jet version seems rather unique.
Click to expand...

Doubles as maintenance access to the engine?
 
yasotay said:
Bill S said:
Further to the discussion of the wing fold for the V-343 here are a couple of images showing the wings in folded position on the jet powered and turboprop versions.
Click to expand...
The wing fold on the jet version seems rather unique.
Click to expand...
I could see some maintenance problems as well. Combining folding actuators and locks with engines, fluids and heat. I will keep looking to see if I uncover any further details.
 

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