Curtiss_P-55A_485th
ASCENDER
CFS3 - V4.00.169

This aircraft was built by Gregory "Sarge" Pierson using version 4.00.169 of the AvHistory 1% Assembly Line process.  It is based on the MS/CFS3 stock P-55 visual.  

John BRAVO/4 Whelan based this skin on Maj George Preddy Jr's P-51 "Cripes A' Mighty 3rd" 485th FS 352nd FG 8th AF USAAF.  Preddy was the world’s top scoring P-51 Mustang Ace with 24 in Mustangs out of his total score of 27 aerial and 5 ground victories.



Rene 'Greycap' of Steve's "O-1 Driver" effects team installed the lights & exhaust flames.

The P-55A is a 'what if' aircraft developed with our DATCOM programs based on measurements of the XP-55A.

The USAF DATCOM equations (with Dr Roskam's enhancements) to define all Stability Derivatives, to model the way the Stability Derivatives change with Mach and AoA making use of every parameter and table available.



We threw out the old Roskam MOI stuff and replaced it with a Class 2 Weight Analysis to determine the specific MOI for the aircraft including the couple MOI ignored by most FS flight modelers.This allows is to model the weight/CG/MOI changes for different configurations of the same aircraft.

We believe its an accurate representation of how the Ascender would have performed if it was given a development contract & equipped with the engine it was designed for, the Pratt & Whitney X-1800-A3G (H-2600) liquid-cooled engine.



Its interesting to note that we could not reach Curtiss's target 507mph with DATCOM input.  The best using our test programs was 445 mph @ 19300 ft which we elected to use in the 'what if' version.

The Curtiss XP-55 Ascender was another response to Circular Proposal R-40C, which was issued on November 27, 1939. It called for a fighter that would be much more effective than any extant--with a top speed, rate of climb, maneuverability, armament, and pilot visibility, all of which would be far superior to those of any existing fighter. In addition, the fighter was required to have a low initial cost and had to be easy and inexpensive to maintain. The Army specifically mentioned in R-40C that they would consider aircraft with unconventional configurations.



The Curtiss entry, designated CW-24 by the company, was a swept-wing pusher aircraft with canard (tail-first) elevators. The low-mounted sweptback wings were equipped with ailerons and flaps on the trailing edge as well as directional fins and rudders mounted near the wing tips both above and below the airfoil. The elevators were located near the front of the nose in a horizontal surface.



A completely-retractable tricycle undercarriage was to be used, the first time such an undercarriage was to be employed in a Curtiss fighter. Curtiss proposed to use the new and untried Pratt & Whitney X-1800-A3G (H-2600) liquid-cooled engine, mounted behind the pilot's cockpit and driving a pusher propeller. Project maximum speed was no less than 507 mph!

The first XP-55 (42-78845) was completed on July 13, 1943. It made its first test flight on July 19, 1943 from the Army's Scott Field near the Curtiss-Wright St Louis plant. The pilot was J. Harvey Gray, Curtiss's test pilot. Initial flight testing revealed that the takeoff run was excessively long. In order to solve this problem, the nose elevator was increased in area and the aileron up trim was interconnected with the flaps so that it operated when the flaps were lowered.

The trials indicated that the XP-55 had satisfactory handling characteristics during level and climbing flight, but at low speeds and during landings there was a tendency on the part of the pilot to overcontrol on the elevators because of a lack of any useful "feel".

Only the 3rd & final XP-55 (42-78846) survived testing & was flown to Warner Robins Field in Georgia in May of 1945. It was later taken to Freeman Field to await transfer to the National Air Museum at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.

For a long time, its fuselage was on display at the Paul Garber facility in Suitland, Maryland. In December of 2001, the aircraft was sent to the Kalamazoo Aviation History Museum for restoration. By 2007 the work was complete, and the plane is now on display at the Main Campus building of the Kalamazoo Airzoo.

BEAR
http://www.avhistory.org