Bell XP-52

{{short description|Canceled fighter aircraft project}} {{Redirect|Bell XP-59|the Bell XP-59 jet fighter|Bell P-59 Airacomet}} {{Use American English|date=June 2022}}  {{Infobox aircraft |name = XP-52 |image =Bell XP-59 wind tunnel model 060913-F-1234P-012.jpg |caption = A wind tunnel model of the XP-59 |type = Fighter |manufacturer = Bell Aircraft Corporation |designer = |first_flight = |introduction = |retired = |status = Canceled October 1940 (XP-52) <br>Canceled 25 November 1941 (XP-59) |primary_user = |more_users = |produced = |number_built = None |variants = }}

The '''Bell XP-52''' and subsequent '''XP-59''' were World War II fighter aircraft design projects by the American Bell Aircraft Corporation.

Both projects featured a twin-boom layout with a rear-mounted engine driving pusher contra-rotating propellers.

When the XP-59 project was canceled the designation XP-59A was used as a cover for a secret jet fighter prototype, which would enter production as the P-59 Airacomet.

==XP-52== [[File:Continental I-1430.jpg|thumb|The intended engine – the Continental X-1430 in the National Museum of the United States Air Force]] The XP-52 design was begun by the Bell Company in 1940, separate from the R-40C competition, under the Air Material Command designator '''MX-3'''.

The short fuselage carried a piston engine in the rear, driving a pair of contra-rotating propellers in a pusher configuration. The wings were swept back at an angle of 20 degrees, with a horizontal stabilizer mounted behind the propeller on twin booms running back from the wings. The fuselage was unusually streamlined, being round and barrel-shaped, with the forward-located pilot's cockpit fully faired-in to its lines and the nose ending in a round air intake which was ducted back internally to the engine.<ref name="jones">Jones, L.; ''US Fighters'', Aero, 1975.</ref> The undercarriage was a tricycle arrangement, with the main wheels retracting into the tailbooms. Propulsion was to be provided by the experimental Continental XIV-1430-3 inverted V-12 engine.<ref>Jenkins, Dennis R. and Tony R. Landis. Experimental & Prototype U.S. Air Force Jet Fighters. North Branch, Minnesota, USA: Specialty Press, 2008. {{ISBN|978-1-58007-111-6}}.</ref>

The XP-52 was canceled in October 1940 because the XIV-1430 engine ran into technical difficulties. Bell submitted a similar design to the US Navy as the Model 19, but this too was never built.<ref name=ASP>Buttler, Tony, and Griffith, Alan, 2015. American Secret Projects: Fighters, Bombers, and Attack Aircraft, 1937–1945. Manchester: Crecy Publishing. {{ISBN|978-1906537487}}.</ref>

==XP-59== Although generally similar in layout to the XP-52, the XP-59 was slightly larger and heavier, and was to be powered by a Pratt and Whitney R-2800-23 engine of {{convert|2,000|hp|kW}}.<ref name="jones" /> Two prototypes were ordered in February 1941.<ref name=ASP/>

On 3 October 1941 the contract for Bell's first jet fighter was signed. The prototype was designated the XP-59A and it would enter production as the P-59 Airacomet. The original XP-59 was canceled on November 25, 1941 because Bell itself was pre-occupied with development of the Bell P-63 Kingcobra.<ref name="jones" /><ref name=ASP/>

==See also== {{aircontent |related= |similar aircraft= * De Havilland Vampire * SAAB 21 * Vultee XP-54 Swoose Goose * SNCASO SO.8000 Narval |lists= * List of fighter aircraft * List of military aircraft of the United States }}

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * [http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_fighters/p52.html Bell XP-52] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101123222800/http://joebaugher.com/usaf_fighters/p52.html |date=2010-11-23 }}

P-052 Category:Cancelled military aircraft projects of the United States Category:Twin-boom aircraft Category:Single-engined pusher aircraft Category:Aircraft with contra-rotating propellers Category:Low-wing aircraft Category:Aircraft with retractable tricycle landing gear Category:1940s United States fighter aircraft Category:Single-engined piston aircraft