The Boeing F8B was developed during World War II to provide the U.S. Navy a long-range shipboard fighter aircraft for operation against the Japanese home islands from aircraft carriers outside the range of Japanese land-based aircraft. It was intended for various roles including interceptor, long-range escort fighter, dive-bomber and torpedo bomber. Image File history File linksMetadata F8b-i. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing, building, testing, selling, and maintaining aircraft, aircraft parts, missiles, rockets, and/or spacecraft. ... The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA, TYO: 7661 ) is an aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. ... The Maiden flight of an aircraft is the first occasion on which an aircraft leaves the ground of its own accord. ... November 27 is the 331st day (332nd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... This is a list of aviation-related events from 1944: Events January January 11 - in one of the largest air raids to date, 570 USAAF bombers strike Brunswick, Halberstadt, and Oschersleben. ... The United States Navy (USN) is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for naval operations. ... The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) was a part of the U.S. Army during World War II. The direct precursor to the U.S. Air Force, the USAAF formally existed between 1941 and 1947. ... The United States Air Force (USAF) is the aerial warfare branch of the United States armed forces and one of the seven uniformed services. ... The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA, TYO: 7661 ) is an aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... The United States Navy (USN) is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for naval operations. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Four aircraft carriers, (front-to-back) Principe de Asturias, amphibious assault carrier USS Wasp, supercarrier USS Forrestal and light V/STOL carrier HMS Invincible, showing size differences. ... The MiG-25 is a Russian interceptor that was the mainstay of the Soviet air defence. ...

Design and development

The Boeing Model 400 or XF8B-1 was, at the time, the largest and heaviest single-seat, single-engine fighter developed in the United States. Boeing optimistically called the XF8B-1 the "Five-in-one fighter" (fighter, interceptor, dive bomber, torpedo or horizontal bomber). It was powered by a single twenty-eight cylinder Pratt & Whitney XR-4360-10 3,000 hp (2.2 MW) radial "Corncob" air-cooled engine mounted as a "power-egg" that drove two contra-rotating, three blade propellors. The large wings were designed for folded upward outer sections while the fuselage incorporated an internal bomb bay, large fuel cells with extra fuel able to be carried externally. The proposed armament included six 0.50 inch (12.7 mm) machine guns or six 20 mm wing mounted cannons and a 6,400 lb (2,900 kg) bomb load or two 2,000 lb (900 kg) torpedoes. The final configuration was a large, but streamlined design, featuring a bubble canopy, sturdy main undercarriage that folded up into the wings, topped by a stylish variation on the B-29 vertical tail. Pratt & Whitney Wasp Major (sectioned) The Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major was a large radial piston aircraft engine designed and built during World War II. It was the last of the Wasp family and the culmination of its makers piston engine technology, but the war was over before... Categories: Aircraft stubs ... A propeller can be seen as a rotating fin in water or a wing in air. ...

The development of three prototypes (BuNos 57984/S7986) began in May 1943 although only one was completed before the war ended. The two remaining prototypes were completed after the war, with the first prototype (BuNo 57984) evaluated at Wright Field by the U.S. Army Air Force. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Prototyping. ... This is a list of aviation-related events from 1943: Events January January 27 - the USAAF makes its first daylight raid on Germany January 30 - Royal Air Force de Havilland Mosquitos make the first daylight air-raid on Berlin January 30-31 – the H2S radar is used by RAF...

XF8B-I BuNo 57986 wearing overall Glossy Sea Blue camouflage was photographed on 12 December 1946

Testing

Although testing of the promising XF8B-I concept continued into 1946 by the USAAF and 1947 by the US Navy, the end of the war in the Pacific and changing postwar strategy required that Boeing concentrate on building land-based large bombers and transports. The advent of jet fighters, led to the cancellation of many wartime piston-engined projects, consequently, neither the US Navy nor the USAF had an interest in pursuing the project. As the test program was concluded, one by one, the prototypes were scrapped with 57986 lingering on into 1950. Combatants China (from 1937) United States (1941) U.K. (1941) Australia (from 1941) Free France (1941) Netherlands (1941) New Zealand (1941) Canada (1941) British India (1941) Soviet Union (1945) Mongolia (1945) Empire of Japan (from 1937) Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Franklin D. Roosevelt Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Fumimaro Konoe Hideki... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

Specifications (Boeing XF8B-1)

General characteristics

• Crew: one, pilot
• Length: 43 ft 3 in (13.1 m)
• Wingspan: 54 ft (16.5 m)
• Height: 16 ft 3 in (5.0)
• Wing area: 489 ft² (45.4 m²)
• Empty: 13,519 lb (6,132 kg)
• Loaded: 20,508 lb (9,302 kg)
• Maximum takeoff: 21,691 lb (9,839 kg)
• Powerplant: Pratt & Whitney XR-4360-10 28-cylinder radial, 3,000 hp (2,240 kW)

Pratt & Whitney Wasp Major (sectioned) The Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major was a large radial piston aircraft engine designed and built during World War II. It was the last of the Wasp family and the culmination of its makers piston engine technology, but the war was over before...

Performance

• Maximum speed: 340 mph (550 km/h)
• Range: 2,280 miles (3669 km)
• Service ceiling: 37,500 ft (11,400 m)
• Rate of climb: 2,800 ft/min (850 m/min) initial
• Power/mass: 0.15 hp/lb (0.24 kW/kg)

Armament

• 6× 0.50 in (12.7 mm) or 6× 20 mm wing mounted guns
• 6,400 lb (2900 kg) bomb load or 2× 2,000 lb (900 kg) torpedoes

References

• Green, William. War Planes of the Second World War - Fighters (Vol 4). London: Macdonald, 1961.
• Koehnen, Rick. Boeing XF8B-1 Five-in-One (Naval Fighters Number 65). Simi Valley, CA: Steve Ginter Publishing, 1975. ISBN 0-94261-265-5.
• Koehnen, Richard C. "XF8B-1... Last of the Breed: Boeing's Five-in-One Fighter." Airpower, Vol. 5, no. 4, July 1975.
• Pedigree of Champions: Boeing Since 1916, Third Edition. Seattle, WA: The Boeing Company, 1969.
• Zichek, Jared A. The Boeing XF8B-1 Fighter: Last of the Line. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 2007. ISBN 0-76432-587-6.

External links

• Boeing XF8B-1
• XF8B-1 Fighter-Bomber

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