Subject: Twenty-Second in the series--the Curtiss XP-22

From: [email-masked] (Joseph F Baugher)
Date: 30 Sep 92 12:38:30 GMT

>From Joseph F Baugher <[email-masked]>

The Curtiss XP-22 is one of the steps in the convoluted process of 
evolution and adaptation which produced the famous Curtiss P-6E 
pursuit.  It was basically the third P-6A (Ser No 29-262) which was 
used to test new radiator and oil cooler installations for a V-1570-23 
engine.  Under the bizarre designation scheme used by the Army during 
the late 1920s and early 1930s, the experimental use of a different 
engine was thought to call for an entirely new designation, and the 
aircraft was redesignated XP-22.  Final modification produced an 
entirely new nose, with belly radiator and oil cooler, machine guns 
lowered to troughts on the sides of the fuselage under the engine 
cylinder banks rather than between them as on previous versions.  A 
new single-leg undercarriage was also installed.  

The XP-22 flew for the first time in June of 1931.  Weights were 2597 
lbs empty, 3354 lb gross.  During tests, the XP-22 achieved a maximum 
speed of 202.4 mph at sea level and 195.5 mph at 10,000 feet.  Initial 
climb rate was 2400 ft/min, and an altitude of 5000 feet could be 
attained in 2.3 minutes.  Service ceiling was 26,500 feet.  Armament 
consisted of a pair of 0.30-cal machine guns mounted on the fuselage 
sides and synchronized to fire through the propeller arc.  

In June 1931, a flyoff was held between a standard P-6, a standard 
Boeing P-12, a YP-20 with the Cyclone radial, and the XP-22.  The 
XP-22's speed of 202.5 mph at sea level gained it the upper hand over 
all its rivals, and won it an order for 46 service test versions under 
the designation Y1P-22.  However, for budgetary reasons, this 
designation was changed to P-6C and finally to P-6E before the planes 
were delivered.  

After the tests were completed, these new features were removed from 
the XP-22 and were replaced by the original equipment, and the 
aircraft reverted to a standard P-6A.  

Sources: 

  United States Military Aircraft Since 1909, Gordon Swanborough and 
  Peter Bowers, Smithsonian Institution Press, 1989.  

  The American Fighter, Enzo Angellucci and Peter Bowers, Orion Books, 
  1987.  

  Curtiss Aircraft: 1907-1947, Peter M.  Bowers, Naval Institute Press, 
  1987.  

  "The Curtiss Army Hawks", Peter M.  Bowers, Aircraft in Profile, 
  Doubleday, 1969.  

Joe Baugher       AT&T Bell Laboratories    2000 North Naperville Road 
		  Naperville, Illinois 60566-7033.   (708) 713-4548