Imaginary developments of the McDonnell XP-67

[blackkite]

Early XP-67... -SP

On this drawing fuselage/wing cross-sections resembles me SR-71 - the same approach to integral layout of blended fuselage, wing and engines.
XP-67 looks very advanced for it's time. I wonder, if there were attempts to replace piston engines by turbojets? Just a guess, without any historical sources - large size of engine nacelles asking for such solution

http://alternathistory.com/mcdonnell-khp-67-istrebitel-dlya-betmena-ssha-1941g
Exhaust nozzle shape is almost same as XP-67. ;D

 

[Silencer1]

Thank you blackkite for this link!

Looks, like this idea it's not my priority
Of course, there were a lot of rather conventional jets with straight wing, but - combination of swept outer sections of wing with staring central part and straight stabilizer made this "what-if" drawing very far from reality, in my humble opinion. CG position is questionable too.

 

[blackkite]

Thank you blackkite for this link!

Looks, like this idea it's not my priority
Of course, there were a lot of rather conventional jets with straight wing, but - combination of swept outer sections of wing with staring central part and straight stabilizer made this "what-if" drawing very far from reality, in my humble opinion. CG position is questionable too.

Ummm......Sharp!

 

[RAP]

Good stuff Blackkite, thanks!

 

[XP67_Moonbat]

Nice find!

 

[GTX]

Early XP-67... -SP

On this drawing fuselage/wing cross-sections resembles me SR-71 - the same approach to integral layout of blended fuselage, wing and engines.
XP-67 looks very advanced for it's time. I wonder, if there were attempts to replace piston engines by turbojets? Just a guess, without any historical sources - large size of engine nacelles asking for such solution

http://alternathistory.com/mcdonnell-khp-67-istrebitel-dlya-betmena-ssha-1941g
Exhaust nozzle shape is almost same as XP-67. ;D

Those drawings are fictional ones I did back in 2009.

 

[Stargazer]

Those drawings are fictional ones I did back in 2009.

Yep, I remember them! Nice.

 

[Stargazer]

Topic split from the XP-67 thread. ;-)

 

[Stargazer]

Not as radical or original as GTX's images, but here's two imaginary developments of the XP-67 I did a few years ago:

• A hypothetical Navy variant (that was my very first attempt at aircraft photoshopping, back in 2009!)
• A jet-powered variant.

Hope you enjoy them!

 

[RAP]

The navy version is beautiful. I've got a XP67 model laying around that I thought I'd build in natural metal, now maybe I have to change my mind. Thanks!

 

[Stargazer]

The navy version is beautiful. I've got a XP67 model laying around that I thought I'd build in natural metal, now maybe I have to change my mind. Thanks!

Glad you like it!! B)

 

[XP67_Moonbat]

Love that Navy version!

 

[Madoc]

I've long wondered why McDonnell didn't try to rework the Moonbat into a pure jet machine or at least incorporate and evolved version of it into their postwar designs. Instead it seems that the moment the project ran out of cash it was then all over said and done.

 

[royabulgaf]

Madoc, the aircraft had a lot of problems. It was underpowered and handled poorly at high speed and violent maneuvers. At that time McDonnell was in the parts and subcontracting business, and in fact this underperforming aircraft was their first design. The aerospace industry was of course expanding rapidly due to the war, and McDonnell as the new guy had lower priority when it came to wind tunnel time and the like.

 

[Scott Kenny]

Madoc, the aircraft had a lot of problems. It was underpowered and handled poorly at high speed and violent maneuvers. At that time McDonnell was in the parts and subcontracting business, and in fact this underperforming aircraft was their first design. The aerospace industry was of course expanding rapidly due to the war, and McDonnell as the new guy had lower priority when it came to wind tunnel time and the like.

And getting good engines. Army would not loan them even two Merlins for flight testing, instead sticking the Bat with the I-1430 dogs in hopes that laminar flow over the whole aircraft would miraculously make it better.

 

[stever_sl]

And getting good engines. Army would not loan them even two Merlins for flight testing, instead sticking the Bat with the I-1430 dogs in hopes that laminar flow over the whole aircraft would miraculously make it better

The Army had been prepared to switch away from I-1430 since the XP-67 program began, as a memo from Col F.O. Carroll (Chief of Experimental Section at Wright Field) on 12 May 1942 (before construction of the prototype even began) makes clear. He was responding to questions raised by Gen Echols about XP-67, confirming that if the 1430 proved to be deficient then V-1710s would be installed. By the time the prototype got finished, the 1430 had been cancelled for months and everyone knew that if the aircraft were to go forward, it would have to have different engines. But the Army was well aware that both the V-1710 and V-1650 were larger than the I-1430, and in order to fit them the nacelles would have to be redesigned and enlarged. Army pilots had already criticized the poor side visibility thanks to the existing nacelles, and making them any bigger would have required raising the cockpit just to keep the prototype's marginal visibility from becoming unacceptable. Records of a July 14th 1944 telephone call still exist in which Lt Col Marshall S. Roth correctly noted that any such engine switch would require not only new nacelles, but thanks to the XP-67's extreme blending concept, also new inboard wings and a new center fuselage, in fact virtually a new airplane. There just wasn't any money to pursue anything like this, so no engine swapping would have been possible whether or not any extra Merlins could have been uncovered.