RON DUPAS COLLECTION
No. 2330. Grumman G-45 XP-50 (40-3057) US Army Air Corps
APS No. 2925

Grumman G-45 XP-50

07/31/2011. Remarks by Johan Visschedijk: "A land-based version of the shipboard XF5F-1 was offered to the USAAC as the G-45 while the prototype naval fighter was still under construction. Ordered as the XP-50 on November 25, 1939, it was essentially similar to its shipboard counterpart, apart from having a lengthened nose to accommodate the nose wheel member of a tricycle landing gear.

Powered by two turbocharged Wright R-1820-67/69 engines, it was intended to carry an armament of two 0.787 in (20 mm) cannon and two 0.50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns. The XP-50 flew for the first time on May 14, 1941, but the aircraft was destroyed after 20 hours of flight testing as a result of a turbo-supercharger explosion. Further development was abandoned in favor of the more advanced XP-65 (Model G-51), which, in the event, was also to be discontinued."

Created November 10, 2002