Boeing XP-8

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The Boeing XP-8 was a prototype United States biplane fighter of the 1920s, notable for its unusual design incorporating the engine radiator into the lower wing.

Boeing developed the prototype in 1926 as a private venture, with the goal of winning the Army Air Corps competition announced in 1925. Designated by Boeing as its Model 66, the airframe was basically a PW-9 with an experimental 600 hp Packard 2A-1530 engine. In order to streamline around the engine, the radiator was moved back so that the opening coincided with the front edge of the lower wing, resulting in an unusually narrow profile around the engine.

Army testing of the plane began in January 1928, and it handled well, but performance was insufficient, with a maximum speed of 173.2 mph. Even so, the prototype continued in Air Corps service until June 1929, after which it was scrapped. The airframe design lived on in the Navy's Boeing F2B.

[edit] References

• Lloyd S. Jones, U.S. Fighters (Aero Publishers, Inc., 1975) pp. 34-35 ISBN 0-8168-9200-8