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American Combat Planes of the 20th Century is an incredible reference for anyone who is interested in any American Combat Plane History. There are 758 pages and 1700 b/w photos in this substantial labor of love by Ray Wagner, who has been passionately researching and writing about aircraft for over 50 years. Whether you are already familiar with his past works, or just discovering this accomplished author for the first time... This is the book that you've been waiting for!

If you'd like to see the book's Table of Contents ... Click here. You can also browse the entire Index Section to get an idea of the extensive amount of information that is covered within this book.

Search our site for other combat planes. A- 1 Eaton A- 4 Skyhawk A- 6 & A- 7 Air Weapons AV- 8 to A- 10 A- 20 Havoc A- 22 Martin Maryland A- 23 Martin Baltimore A- 24 Douglas A- 26 Douglas Invader Attack Planes B- 2A, F-111, F-117 Stealth B- 17 Flying Fortress B- 24 Liberator B- 25 North American B- 26 Marauder B- 29 Superfortress B- 32 Dominator B- 35 Flying Wing B- 36 B- 47 Stratojet B- 50 Boeing B- 52 Stratofortress B- 57 Canberra B- 58 Hustler Biplanes Biplanes, Army Pursuits Bombers, B- 70 to Stealth Bombers, First Big Curtiss Falcon CO- 1 DH- 4 De Havilland F3D- Douglas Skyknight F3H- McDonnell Demon F4D- 1 Skyray F4F Grumman Wildcats F- 4U Corsair F6F Grumman F7F Grumman F7U Vought F9F G. Cougar F9F G. Panther F- 16 Fighting Falcon F- 84 F- 86 Sabre F- 89 to F-94 F- 100 to F-108 First Fighters Flying Boats GAX Iraq to Afghanistan Martin Bombers Missile Era Fighters Navy Fighers Navy Flying Boats O- 2 Douglas P- 35 Seversky P- 36 to 42 Curtiss P- 38 Lightning P- 39 Airacobra P- 40 Line P- 47 Thunderbolt P- 51 Mustang Fighter P- 61 Black Widow P- 63 Kingcobra P- 79 to P-81 P- 82 Twin Mustang SB2C Helldiver TBF-TBM Avenger Thomas-Morse Torpedo Planes V- 11 Vultee XB -28 XP -48 / 77

CRISIS-BORN FIGHTER PROJECTS, XP-48 TO XP-77

XP-59, YP-59

Page 7

America’s First Jets
While visiting England in April 1941, Air Force General Henry H. Arnold saw the first jet-propelled British aircraft, the Gloster E28/39. He returned to the U.S. with information about its Whittle engine and on September 4 told General Electric, which had learned much from turbosupercharger experience about the heat-resistant alloys necessary for the whirling turbine blades, to build copies of the jet engine. BELL YP-59A

The next day, Bell Aircraft, because of its proximity to GE’s Schenectady plant and Bell’s talent for innovation, was assigned construction of three twin-jet prototypes. For security reasons the first Bell Model 27 airframes were designated XP-59A and the engines the “Type I” series, in hopes of disguising them as the canceled XP-59 pusher and General Electric superchargers.

The XP-59A contract was approved October 3, 1941, and 13 YP-59A interceptors were added on March 26, 1942, for service trials. Work went ahead with great secrecy in a Buffalo factory and Muroc Dry Lake in California was selected to conceal the initial flights. This site later became Edwards Air Force Base, which replaced Wright Field as the center of Air Force flight testing. The prototype was secretly shipped across the country by train, and on October 1, 1941, company test pilot Robert M. Stanley made the first 30-minute wheels-down flight. The next day, Stanley and Colonel Lawrence C. Craigie made the first official shakedown flights.

America’s first jet fighter was a single-seat, mid-wing monoplane sitting low on tricycle landing gear. General Electric I-A units under each wing root yielded only 1,250-pounds thrust each, instead of the expected 1,640 pounds. When more engines arrived, the second XP-59A could be flown on February 15, 1943. The top speed of 389 mph at 25,000 feet was below expectations, and newer 1420-lb thrust I-14B engines were installed. Although measured speed flights were not completed, the concluding Air Force report credited the XP-59A with 418 mph. BELL P-59A-1

A sliding canopy, cockpit armor, and various modifications were seen on the YP-59A, the first two delivered to Muroc in June 1943 and first flown on August 13 with I-A engines. An improved engine model called the I-16 (later J31) became available by November and the wingtips were clipped. An unofficial altitude record for fighters of 47,600 feet was set December 15 by the first YP-59A with I-16 engines.

The third YP-59A went to Britain in September 1943 in trade for a Gloster Meteor, while the U.S. Navy got the 8th and 9th in December. These aircraft had the same two 37-mm guns with 88 rounds mounted in the nose as the prototypes, but the last four YP-59As were completed by August 1944 with the installation standard on later models; one 37-mm M-10 with 45 rounds, three .50-caliber M-2 guns with 600 rounds, and ferry drop tanks under the wings. BELL P-59B-1

While performance was inferior to prop fighters like the P-51, and a snaking tendency made them bad gun platforms, it is notable that there were no XP or YP-59A aircraft losses in 242 hours of testing, in spite of the very new technology. These pioneers had demonstrated the practicality of jet propulsion. Three single-engine XP-59Bs were ordered on the same day as the YP-59As, but this program was halted on June 15, 1943, when it became apparent that the I-16 engine was too weak to power an effective single-engine fighter.

A letter contract for 100 production Airacomets was sent to Bell on October 9, 1943, and secrecy was lifted January 7, 1944, with public announcements of the new fighters that flew without propellers. Photographs were not released until after the first P-59A-1 was delivered August 31,1944.

Successful development of Lockheed’s P-80 jet fighter caused Bell’s order to be cut in half. Twenty P-59A-1s were followed in December 1944 by the first of 30 P-59B-1s accepted by May 1945. The latter model had the J31-GE-5 and 66 gallons more of internal fuel. Most production P-59s went to the 412th Fighter Group at Bakersfield, California, where they gave useful training to future P-80 pilots.

Meanwhile, Germany not only developed jet fighters, but became the first to send them into combat. The world’s first jet flight had been made on August 27, 1939, by the Heinkel He 178, and the He 280 twin-jet fighter flew on April 5, 1941. Messerschmitt’s Me 262 flew with jets on July 27, 1942, and production deliveries of that 540-mph interceptor began in March 1944.

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