Lockheed XP-55 `Skunk`

[AnonymousDFB1]

Somehow this just looks right.

[tc2324]

Ok, last picture of the build before the reveal and backstory. Airframe primed and first coat of `warpaint` has gone on. Need to fill that section by the nose cone, attach u/c, u/c doors, wing tanks and some touch up painting of the exhausts and cockpit area and I should be about done.

[tc2324]

Thought I`d be finished by now, but alas the other `arf keeps giving me chores around the house. So heres an update on what she looks like now. (the model, not the wife..!)

[robw_uk]

intetresting & Well executed concept... how about hitting this form the other direction.... lightning front half and only 1 tail-boom out the back (guess it wouldnt be strong enough really so would need to be beefed up)

[TaiidanTomcat]

Brilliantly imaginative!

[tc2324]

Thanks for the compliments chaps.

robw_uk, I did consider putting the Meteor tail it at one point but then it would have gone against the backstory and looked too much like a Meteor.

[CPNGROATS]

That's looking sharpish..!! tc2324......

Cheers,

ggc

[tc2324]

Diorama and backstory presentation to finish this build will have to wait until the weekend but thought you may like a few colour pics of the completed model and profiles. Decals being very old were a nightmare to apply with all that white halo stuff around them all so out came the fine paint brush again.

Overall I`m petty happy with this model and I think the back story is a cracker.

Untill the the weekend...........!

[Mark M]

it looks like a real design well done

[Muller]

I really does look like a whacky early jet design! Very well executed!

[RussTnailZ]

Great job and like others have said totally believable as an early jet design

Russ

[tc2324]

Thanks Chaps.

Found some time tonight to get the picture I wanted, so..., on with the show....!!!!

Lockheed XP-55 `Skunk`

Jet Engines and Jet Planes

The history and development of the Lockheed XP-55 began after Major General Henry H. Arnold had become aware of the British jet programme when he attended a demonstration of the Gloster E.28/39 in April 1941. He requested, and was given the plans for the Gloster`s power plant, the Power Jets W.1.

By September 4th 1941 he had instructed General Electrics to produce an American version and then approached the chief designers from Bell and Lockheed Aircraft companies. Bell was later to incorporate the copied engine into it`s Bell XP-59 fighter project which flew for the first time on 1st October 1942.

Design and Background.

Lockheed`s chief designer Clarence `Kelly` Johnson had reviewed the data and was not convinced that the copied jet engines supplied by General Electric were powerful enough to produce an effective fighter aircraft. He was however interested in designing, developing and studying jet technology and dynamics and set a small team, headed by himself, the task of integrating the engines into a testbed aircraft by the end of 1942.

At that time Lockheed was producing two main types for the war effort, the Hudson and P-38 Lightning. The team did not have the time or materials to design a new testbed and it was quickly decided that an existing airframe would be modified to accommodate the new engines. The Hudson was quickly dismissed due to the fact the jet engines would struggle to cope with it`s size and weight and so it left the P-38 as the only option.

By November 1st 1942 the modified P-38, now given the unofficial designation XP-55 was delivered by road to Muroc Army Airfield and assembled. Various modifications had been carried out and the first thing that most personnel noticed about the new aircraft was it`s very `squat` appearance, but as test pilot Tony LeVier later remarked, `it`s a lot damn easier to jump into,,,!`

In place of the two Allison V-1710 111/113 V-12 piston engines were now two W.1. turbojets each producing 1,700 lbf (7.7 kN) of power. The wing span was also increased by 3 feet on each wing partly due to the width of the jet engines but also because Clarence `Kelly` Johnson also wanted to investigate and explore how high a jet aircraft could operate. He surmised that the increased wing area would aid the aircraft and pilot in the thinner air at higher altitudes. (Much of this basic original data from the XP-55 test flights was used by Lockheed 10 years later when the U-2 spy plane was in development).

Other changes to the airframe had been the increased width of the tail booms by 6 feet, retracting undercarriage placed between the cockpit and engines, which in turn led to the removal of the fuel tanks. This again in turn led to the development of wing tip fuel tanks technology which was used on the next Lockheed project the XP-80 Shooting Star.

The horizontal stabiliser was also lifted to avoid burning from the jet exhaust. The standard P-38 cannon and .50 cal machine gun weapon load was kept as live fire exercises were planned during the testing phases.

What's in a name?

The unflattering and unofficial nickname `Skunk` was given to the XP-55 after it was visited by the engineers one morning to find that the word `Skunk` with an arrow pointing down towards the undercarriage, had been written on the side of a tail boom near the port engine in chalk. When they asked the armed guard as to what it referred to, the guard replied that during the night a Skunk had set up home by the tyre on the port side and did not want to move. The guard had tried to remove it with the butt of his rifle and then thought better of it when the animals tail was raised at him. The guard wisely decided to leave it be, but felt it best to write a warning on the side of the aircraft so everyone was aware of the potential smelly danger. The engineers and ground crew thanked the guard for his consideration and started the port engine in short order. The poor creature was last seen scurrying away as quick as it could across the pan and into the undergrowth to escape the loud noise. After this incident, the name stuck.

The XP-55 is also credited with creating another well known phrase associated with Lockheed, although no-one has ever confirmed if the story is true. It is alleged that after the XP-55 obtained it`s `Skunk` name tag the engineers alway refered to the hangar it was stored and maintained in as the `Skunk Works`.

It seems too much of a coincidence that not 6 months later those same designers and engineers that worked on the XP-55 started work on the XP-80 at what is now known as the legendary Lockheed `Skunk works` buildings situated in Burbank, California at that time.

Test Flights and Secrecy

Shortly after the first test flight on the 1st December 1942, the XP-55 went on to complete a further 28 test flights. No records exist, or at the very least been made public regarding these flights, however it is understood that after completing basic handling at low and high speeds, it went on to set an `unofficial` altitude and speed record after climbing to height and then commencing a shallow dive. The height and speed has never been admitted or released.

It is reported from sources that a few days later when a similar flight was taking place the vibration was so intense that the pilot lost control for a short period of time. Control was regained at around 3,000 feet and after this near disaster Clarence `Kelly` Johnson banned all further high speed `testing`.

Further flights were completed with regards to air to air and air to ground weapons testing and they all seem to have been completed without mishap. A second incident however did occur in mid February 1943 when during the testing phase of jettisoning the wing tanks in flight, the port wing tank was released, caught in a reportedly `unusual` airstream and hit the port tail boom causing considerable damage. Luckily for the test pilot the wing tip tank was empty at that time and the aircraft was able to return to base and make an emergency landing.

It is also said that the XP-55 also took part in air to air refuelling tests, however no pictures exist of it in this configuration and their are no records of any modifications to support this story.

Verdicts and Moving on

The verdict on the XP-55 was simple. On the up side it was reported to as easy to fly, was very stable in most aspects of flight and able to out fly all the propeller aircraft of the day when involved in air to air dogfights. However, on the down side, as Clarence `Kelly` Johnson had guessed correctly the XP-55 was never going to be a production aircraft. The P-38 airframe was outdated and the W.1. turbo jets were not powerful enough to take the project forward. The `Skunk` was destined to be a `one off` test bed aeroplane only.

By June 1943 Lockheed had started work on the XP-80 and the XP-55 aircraft and project were quietly drawn down.

The XP-55`s final flight is reported to be on the 3rd July 1943 to an undisclosed storage facility in Arizona.

But that's not where the story ends....?

In 1957 a `Jet`, looking like a P-38 was reported flying low over Interstate Highway 375 heading south towards what is now known as Groom Lake. It`s never been confirmed, but perhaps Lockheed did not send the `Skunk` to a scrappers yard like so many aircraft were in those early days. Perhaps the `Skunk` is sitting in a small hangar within the Groom Lake facility as a reminder and memorial to the new generation of designers of what the original `Skunk works` designers had built, flown and tested in a very short period of time?

Listed below are the only known poor quality B+W photo`s of the XP-55 at aN undisclosed location.

[fredjocko]

That is really cool. Very nicely done and the pictures definitely add to it. Reading your story at the end I was expecting it to be landing at Area 51 and not Groom Lake.

[tc2324]

That is really cool. Very nicely done and the pictures definitely add to it. Reading your story at the end I was expecting it to be landing at Area 51 and not Groom Lake.

Glad you liked it Fredjocko. Took a bit of a gamble on the pictures as I would have liked a concrete diorama runway and a picture of an American desert type back drop. North Weald will have to do.

[tc2324]

When ours backs were turned, my mates 2 and a half son put the XP-55 through another `test flight` with said results.........,

............., gonna have to send it to the great bone yard in the loft now..!

[Alan P]

When ours backs were turned, my mates 2 and a half son put the XP-55 through another `test flight` with said results.........,

Everyone's a critic, eh?

I guess the punchline to the story is that the Skunk Works did scrap it after all, and the 1957 sighting was the result of Nevada hillbilly moonshine!

Al

[brianthemodeller]

And I bet you very calmly said "Oh piffle, never mind, why don't you go and watch Tweenies while I go into this corner and scream"?

Brian

[tc2324]

And I bet you very calmly said "Oh piffle, never mind, why don't you go and watch Tweenies while I go into this corner and scream"?

Brian

Funny enough I`d had a beer or two by then so I was very relaxed about the whole thing. Just glad I took the pictures I needed for the GB. :shithappens:

(Hope they don`t ask for up to date ones...?)

[CPNGROATS]

A bit of a hard landing in the living room, Eh?

Cheers,

ggc

[Daniel]

Oh no!

Dan