Bell Model 22

History of the Bell Model 22

Even before the events of World War II (1939-1945) finally plunged the United States into total war, the United States Navy (USN) service struggled to find modern solutions to modern problems. The conversation turned to a new single-seat carrier-based fighter jet (according to SD-112-18 specification) capable of speeds approaching 400 mph while maintaining an altitude of 35,000 feet and a range of at least 1,000 miles. run away.

March 10, 1941 was set as the date for all parties involved.

Aircraft manufacturers were free to offer studies focused on single- or twin-engine designs, but due to the limited space of American Airlines at the time, the wingspan of the aircraft was limited to 46 feet. The armament required included up to 6 x .50 caliber heavy machine guns or 4 x 20mm automatic cannons - all of which were mounted in fixtures and fired forward, but provided a good "hit" against all enemy aircraft of the time.

For Bell Aircraft, this effort resulted in the "Type 22". Engineers decided on a two-arm design, in which the fuselage is a centralized, self-contained structure buried in the middle of the main-wing aircraft.

Outriggers emanate from the trailing edges of these wing elements and terminate in the tail, where two vertical rudders sit - the tail, connected at their bottom by a common horizontal plane. The cockpit will be positioned well in front of the plane, with heavy glass but still offering exceptional visibility. The engine will be mounted aft of the cockpit, driving a pair of three-bladed propeller units operating in a "counter-rotating" ("slider") arrangement to eliminate naturally occurring engine torque effects and provide inherent stability.

Mounting the engine behind the cockpit greatly improves pilot visibility -- a powerful attribute for Navy aircraft -- because pilots don't have to look at the plane's long nose when taxiing, taking off or landing. The aircraft will be equipped with a modern three-wheeled landing gear, with each leg (two main and one front) being single-wheeled and retractable into the frame.

For the purposes of naval service, these members will be reinforced and the arresters will join them.

Proposed 6 x .50 caliber heavy machine gun (HMG) weapons would be mounted on the forward end of each tail boom structure - guns on each tail boom stacked in groups of three. Since the nose does not have a propeller unit, there is no need for crushing gears.

All in all, this aircraft bears striking resemblance to another Bell Aircraft proposal, the "Type 20" (detailed on this page), which would also feature a centralized single-seat fuselage and single-engine "thrust" "Propeller configuration and double boom tail design. The Type 20 evolved into the "XP-59", but when the design was shelved entirely, the XP-59 name was re-used to cover the design of America's first jet fighter - this became the P-59 "Aircomet" (in the Details are also given elsewhere). side? ?).

The Bell Model 22 was not selected for further development and, like many other proposals, was shelved.

Specifications for Bell Model 22

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