CONVAIR XA-44 (XB-53)

History

The period after World War II (1939-1945) opened a new chapter in "heavier-than-air" powered flight for aeronautical engineers. The jet age emerged during the war and developed at a frenetic pace thereafter, with many combatants trying to perfect turbojet designs and equip their respective aviation services with the latest fighter jets.

CONVAIR was formed in 1943 by the merger of Consolidated and Vultee, during which time many large aircraft designs were shown - including the interesting "XA-44".

The XA-44 was born in 1945 as a jet attack platform tested by the United States Army Air Force (USAAF). Its most unique quality is the main aircraft with its forward-swept wings and tailless tail section - a vertical tail that forms the rear surface of the aircraft.

The main aircraft - 30 degrees forward and influenced by German war research - was set amidships, shoulder mounted on a low but well contoured fuselage. The cockpit is mounted forward in the usual way behind the nose cone assembly.

It is envisaged that the aircraft will carry a standard operating crew of four.

Engineers decided on a three-engine configuration, with the turbojet taking in air through a side-mounted air intake. The engine of choice is a General Electric J35 with an expected output of 4,000 pounds of thrust per unit.

The choice of a forward-swept-wing workhorse was not a groundbreaking move at the time - in fact, the Germans had studied this jet-powered aircraft in the Junkers Ju 287 before the war ended and dived into the field Back in 1936. The Ju 287 was successful with its built-in turbojet engine and went on to fuel a number of Soviet projects after the war.

This wing arrangement has proven to be advantageous in slow flight, rate of climb and maneuverability.

Due to USAAF's efforts to transform itself after the war (renamed USAF - "USAF" in 1947), the designation of the XA-44 was changed to "XB-53" in 1948, thus the CONVAIR - product was reclassified from an attack platform to Medium bomber, said to carry 12,000 pounds of conventional throwing munitions.

With the end of the war, defense budgets were reduced and the global military was withdrawn, causing many promising advanced aircraft programs to be shelved or completely scrapped. This also threatened the XB-53, which actually competed with another CONVAIR medium bomber design - the "XB-46". Since the service cannot support two similar projects at the same time, the XB-53 has a slight advantage over the more traditional XB-46.

There was a back-and-forth battle between CONVAIR and the U.S. Air Force, in which both programs were allowed to run for longer. However, both were eventually abandoned as interest waned - the X-46 in 1947 and the XB-53 in 1949.

Specification

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