Starting in 1940, the Request for Data R-40C program resulted in the projects of fighters distinguished by their original design, such as the Vultee XP-54 Swoose Goose or the Curtiss-Wright XP-55 Ascender, which I present to you below.

The flight of the prototype took place on July 19, 1943, but the machine was lost in a crash in November of the same year. Pilot J. Harvey Gray lost control of the machine in a stall, but he managed to save himself by jumping with a parachute.

The model shows a second prototype that has survived to our times and found its way to the National Air and Space Museum in Washington and then to the Air Zoo in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Curtiss built prototype number three, but the program was finally closed in 1945. Video from the tests is available; anyone curious will find it on YT.

The fit of the elements is generally good or acceptable. Putty and CA were needed here and there. Except for the Eduard harness in the cockpit, all straight out of the box. Painted with MRP paints, as usual – a delight close to perverse. Antenna cable – Uschi. Moderately weathered. I flattened the wheels slightly, but the main landing gear was relatively weak and did not hold the geometry, so I gave it up.

I’m glad I made it and thought it would be more challenging.

I hope you like it.

Hubert