Subject: Eighth in the Series--The Boeing XP-8

From: [email-masked] (Joseph F Baugher)
Date: 31 Aug 92 15:06:40 GMT

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

The Boeing XP-8 was a new design initiated by Boeing to conform to  an
Air  Corps  specification  issued  in  April  1925 for a fighter to be
powered by the new 600  hp  Packard  2A-1500  inverted  liquid  cooled
engine.  It  was  built  under  a bailment contract, in which the Army
agreed to supply the engine and the military equipment and to test the
airplane, but Boeing would retain actual ownership of the airframe.

The  project  was  assigned  the  company  designation  of  Model  66.
Although  the Model 66 owed a great deal to the PW-9/FB series, it was
essentially a new design.  The Model 66 was a single-bay biplane  with
staggered  wings that were tapered in chord and joined by a single bay
of duralumin N-struts.  The span of the  upper  wing  was  reduced  by
almost  two  feet  from  the  PW-9,  while  that of the upper wing was
increased by the same amount. The fuselage consisted of a welded steel
tube  framework  forward section from the nose to the cockpit, whereas
the real of the fuselage including the rudder consisted  of  a  bolted
duralumin  framework.   The  wing was made of wood, and both the wings
and the fuselage were fabric covered.  The radiator was located in the
lower  fuselage,  situated  at  the  point where the bottom wings were
joined  onto   the  fuselage.    The  twin-bladed  propeller  had   an
aerodynamically-faired  spinner.   The  forward  landing  gear  struts
incorporated oleo-pneumatic shock absorbers, a  feature  which  became
standard on subsequent Boeing fighters.

Boeing delivered the Model 66 aircraft to the Army in July  1927.   It
flew for the first time in July 14, 1927. The designation XP-8 was not
assigned to the aircraft until the USAAC bought the plane from  Boeing
on  a  separate contract signed in January 1928.  The Army assigned it
the serial number 28-359.

Testing  showed  that  the  performance  of  the   XP-8   was   rather
disappointing,  and  the  Army  decided not to order the aircraft into
production.  The Achilles heel of the XP-8 was in its Packard  engine,
which  was  still  in  the experimental stage.  Performance included a
maximum speed of 173 mph, an initial climb  rate  of  2138  ft/min,  a
service  ceiling  of  23,000  feet, and a range of 325 miles.  Weights
were 2390 lbs. empty and 3421 lbs. gross.  Armament consisted  of  one
0.30  cal  and  one 0.50 cal machine gun in the upper fuselage decking
synchronized to fire thru the propeller

The sole XP-8 was surveyed at Wright Field in June 1929.

Sources:

  Boeing Aircraft since 1916, Peter M. Bowers, Naval Institute  Press,
  1989.

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

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