The bomber America should have built…

sponsored by Squarespace the skies above the Korean War crackle to Life as a new jet enters The Fray long in shape and with three powerful engines it Roars across the sky its belly rotates open and several bombs launch out to meet their targets like an alien Mother Ship spawning drones and as it turns its sights on enemy aircraft coming to intercept it blasts them apart with eight machine cannons The Future Has Arrived and it's American you might think that I'm being very dramatic in today's video but it's rather fitting because today's aircraft actually became a movie star appearing in a film of the era as a futuristic new fighter jet of the US Air Force in real life it was faster than its piston powered forbearers and it would also be the herald of a new era of Aviation it seems that everything was going for this attack bomber Fame fortune in a potential order of 300 units till it all crushed down to earth what happened and why did the jet of the future fail this is the Hollywood Story of yesterday's forgotten future the Martin XP 51 attack [Music] bomber it's 1946 and while World War II is over the race to build the future jet powered air force has just begun It Was a Race that the United States couldn't afford to lose especially against the New Rising power of the USSR thus in the fall of the very same year the Air Force started a competition to design a new jet powered bomber aircraft it would have to have the following requirements it would be a rapid ground attack aircraft for low-level bombing and close support missions the basic Mission would be 4,000 lb of explosives and have guns for Close Quarters it would have 1,000 nautical mile range and have a pressurized cockpit to fly at high altitude Martin responded with the jet powered model 234 a formidable 70,000 lb aircraft capable of carrying £8,000 lb of ordinance over 800 M it would have two jet engines and two tur turbo props you're probably asking yourself why did it have two types of propulsion that's because jet engines in 1946 was still very early technology and not trustworthy initially declared the victor of the competition the model 234 was rised as the xa45 the a standing for attack because this was a ground attack aircraft something that the Air Force would actually drop in the very next year but that wouldn't also would be the only thing the Air Force would change following the selection process the US Air Force redirected their focus towards speed prompting a comprehensive overhaul of all programs including the xa45 which was originally conceived without prioritizing this attribute simply put the Martin xa45 was too slow so the model unveiled in February of 1947 underwent such extensive modifications that it bore little result resemblance to its predecessor transformed into a new lighter 52,000 variant this reimagine xa45 now boasted three engines and Incorporated such Innovative features such as a swept wing and tail a rotating Bombay and notably bicycle landing gear their technology previously pioneered by Martin as part of the XP 48 initiative which is totally a future video on the channel coming very soon so make sure you subscribed if you're not already sufficiently impressed by all this the military ordered two prototypes as part of a fixed price contract worth around $9.4 million which is actually 128 million today boy talk about inflation which covered everything from wind tunnel tests mockups prototyping the tools to build it spare parts drawing technical data and even the test pilots cha-ching but Martin would throw in a new name for free the XP 51 and this is what they came up with I have a question for you does more engines mean better aircraft what about in other areas of life like online business imagine how Unstoppable online you would be with an engine powered website fluid engine that is from Squarespace today's video sponsor now whilst it's not made for aircraft to fly the fluid engine's impress impressive drag and drop technology makes making a website a breeze including one for both mobile and desktop it does it automatically plus with Squarespace there are actually hundreds of templates to choose from including some that have an online store set up and ready to go you've just got to add products or others that can launch a business idea in an instant with marketing tools set up to go now I bet you're like I love you found and explained but what has found and explained done for me lately ha as if the weekly videos weren't enough well I'm not empty-handed I can also give you 10% off your first site and domain on Squarespace at www.squarespace.com found anyone who clicks that link also gets my gratitude a warm friendly hug and a special thanks for making everything that you watch possible so click that link down below renowned for its Sleek elong G ated fuselage earing at the monicaa the flying cigar the Martin XP 51 emerged as a medium bomber amidst the backdrop of the Cold War the first thing you'll notice is the three General Electric j47 engines an unusual number for a combat aircraft with two underneath the forward fuselage in pods and one at the extreme tail with the intake at the base of the tail Fen this would give it some serious speed and three engines would provide enough redundancy that if anything were to go wrong with it it would be able to make an emergency landing plus again this new jet technology was rough these engines would give a top speed of 644 mph and a cruise speed of 538 mph damn fast compared to the bombers that came before but that's not all it also had four sub 1,000 thrust rocket assist takeoff bottles with a 14 second burn duration that could be fitted to the rear fuselage to improve its takeoff performance making it take to the skies in an impressively dramatic way although the wings were unusually thin they were still able to house multiple mechanisms such as the Leaning Edge anti- I heating automatic slats full span slotted flaps and an advanced spoiler airon which enabled extraordinary roll control on board there would be a crew of two comprising of a pilot and a navigator with a pilot in a bubble fighter jet style canopy whilst the Navigator had a tiny little window to the rear of the pilot nice and cozy both would be in a pressurized air conditioned environment equipped with upward firing ejection seats this wouldn't be the first time they were implemented into an aircraft but it was the first Martin jet with an escape plan although much later in the story you'll see that it wasn't used much when it came to weapons Martin bought forward the same rotating bomb bay from the xa45 but the bombs could also be carried externally up to a Max maximum load on the aircraft of 10,400 easily 700 kilos more than the mission requirements there would also be 8 20 mm cannons mounted in the nose for any dog fights or to Target lighter ground targets the initial wooden mockup of the XP 51 underwent scrutiny by the Air Force in February 24th of 1948 following this assessment Glenn Edwards a promising test pilot was designated to spearhead the flight of evaluations however tragically just 2 months later Edwards would lose his life during the test flights of North ropes YB 49 flying wing which we've got a video here on the channel so just before the test flights they had to swap in a new pilot Pat tibs who was called up to assume his responsibilities and thus the XP 51 took to the skies for the first time on October 27th in 1949 with tibs at the controls he was able to fly it for 38 minutes with some impressive flight Dynamics and hitting some mock dive bombing runs without issue just in time for the real thing to be required in the Korean War yes it's that time again in the United States have found itself fighting back in Asia politics of the time aside it was actually an opportunity for the government to look at replacing its now aging Fleet piston powered bombers specifically the Douglas a 26ers with jet powered ones just what is your mission quality flying Hardware of better quality than the enemy not just the aircraft but the power plant the Armament the radar everything that goes with the vehicle to make up a complete weapon system and wouldn't you know it that the Martin XP 51 was the perfect candidate thus the United States Army Air Force they were still one thing back then organized a comp competition and invited Martin with the XP 51 as well as North American aj1 Savage as well as the AO Canada cf100 and the English electric Cambra for a potential production contract of 300 units the XP 51 and the camra would emerge from this competition as the favorites and went head-to-head while initially appearing to hold the advantage with impressive speed the XP 51 ultimately faced defeat against the camra despite its slower Pace the camra's lower wing loading provided with the desirable range and Superior maneuverability at low altitudes qualities sought after by the judges to operate in Korea furthermore while the XP 51 could only linger over a Target 400 m away for an hour the camera could extend its presence for 2 and 1/2 hours over a Target located 900 M away from its base Additionally the general strength of the XP 51 airframe was relatively low and would prevent it doing tight turns whil fully loaded with fuel lastly the tandem main gear plus Outriggers of the XP 51 were thought to be unsuitable for the requirement to fly from emergency forward airfields yikes this decisive victory for the Cambra swiftly dashed any hopes for a production version of the XP 51 illustrating that speed alone was not enough to secure success in the competition although the XP 51 itself wasn't chosen for acquisition Martin was tasked with manufacturing 250 Camas under license designated as the b57 additionally Martin's rotating Bombay design would be integrated into the production models of the b57 there was also a proposal for a super camera which would include features from the XP 51 such as the swept wings and tail planes offering improved Speed and Performance compared to the the original B-57 however this Advanced aircraft never progressed beyond the conceptual stage the extensive modifications required would have demanded a significant amount of time for implementation and testing before it could enter production rendering it unfeasible in time for the Korean War so whatever happened to the XP 51 from here throughout the remainder of its development the XP 51 served as a critical called test platform offering insights into groundbreaking technologies that would eventually find their way into other aircraft notably the English electric camera during its idle time it also made an appearance in the film towards the unknown as the Gilbert xf1 120 fighter which is always fun when Hollywood makes an experimental fighter or bomber and turns it into something that the Earth Force has fleets of although it had gone their way there would have actually been 300 XP 51s in the Air Force at Edwards Air Force Base which was actually named after the same test pilot who died flying that flying wing they started doing additional tests in 1951 Engineers focused on understanding the Dynamics of a Bomb release at high velocities a pivotal aspect of aerial Warfare This research reached a critical juncture on March 21st when an unexpected incident unfolded mid-flight and an altitude of 15,000 ft the right hand door unexpectedly opened resulting in a dangerous surge of air pressure that led to the dislodgment of a critical component causing it to fragment and damage engine number two which is one of the reasons why its underslung forward engines were actually one of the largest floors this would compound only 6 months later when on May 9th 1952 the second prototype crashed during a low altitude Ed high-speed maneuver at Edwards Air Force Base the aircraft which was piloted by Major Neil Lop unexpectedly inverted during an Aon roll leading to a catastrophic collision with the ground resulting in a fatal explosion the challenges then continued when the first prototype built met a similar Fate on March 26 in 1956 during a fairy flight from Edwards Air Force Base Witnesses reported a premature stall during takeoff from El Paso Municipal Airport causing the aircraft to lose altitude rapidly after reaching a nose High position despite attempts to recover the XP 51 struck a boundary fence and ultimately disintegrated upon [Music] impact although the ultimate fate may have been overshadowed by these tragedies with both prototypes meeting untimely end the legacy of the XP 51 lives on its contributions to Aeronautical Engineering and the lessons learned from its trials continue to shape the future of aircraft design and operation and we can appreciate that it's a fascinating Time Capture into the beginning of the jet age where Engineers really thought that anything was possible thanks so much for watching today's video I'll see you in the next one be sure to click on the side and subscribe and if you like this leave a little comment down below so it helps the algorithm

Channel: Found And Explained

Views: 151,610

Keywords: aviation, news, documentry, history channel, flying, engineering, history, discovery, real engineering, mustard, wendover, airforce, soviet, usa military, cold war, ww2, world war 2 documentry

Id: 32SbnLVVwt8

Length: 15min 31sec (931 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 07 2024