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Curtiss XP-55 Ascender

On loan from the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum

Did You Know?

• The XP-55 Ascender was a prototype fighter aircraft.
• In 1942, the U.S. Army Air Forces issued a contract for the XP-55 Ascender.
• The first one was completed in 1943.
• Only three Ascenders were ever built. This is the sole survivor, as the other two were destroyed in crashes.
• Curtiss-Wright designers stuck the main wing behind the engine and the pilot, at the tail end of the fuselage, and they mounted a short wing near the nose.
• Pusher power plants propelled these flying experiments, but after considerable testing, the U.S. Army Air Corps deemed the Ascender's handling too poor for an effective combat fighter.

Specifications