Subject: The Curtiss XP-17

From: [email-masked] (Joseph F Baugher)
Date: 15 Sep 92 13:20:07 GMT

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

The first Curtiss P-1 off the production line (Ser No 25-410) had been
used  as  an  test machine throughout its entire life.  For a time, it
had been used to test  an  experimental  inverted  Allison  air-cooled
variant of the "Liberty" engine, but no change in designation had been
made.  However, when it was used as a  testbed  for  the  new  480  hp
Wright  V-1460-3 Tornado inverted V-12 air-cooled engine in June 1930,
the designation XP-17 was  applied.   This  experiment  had  not  been
performed  by  Curtiss,  but rather by the Engineering Division of the
USAAC, and the experimental designation was intended to  indicate  the
test  status  of  the  airframe,  and was not meant to designate a new
experimental fighter prototype.

The XP-17 achieved a maximum speed of 165 mph at sea level and 161 mph
at  5000  feet.   An  altitude  of  10,000 feet could be attained in 8
minutes.  Service ceiling was 21,400  feet.   Weights  were  2204  lb.
empty   and   2994  lb  gross.   The  performance  of  the  XP-17  was
uninspiring, and the experiment went no further.

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