World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseIn 1943, US Navy admiral John S. McCain, Sr. began a program for naval piston-jet mixed-powered fighters, and Ryan Aeronautical soon received the contract to build three prototype aircraft. In Dec 1943, before the first prototype aircraft took flight, the contract was expanded to 100 examples. The first two prototype aircraft were delivered in Apr 1944. The first piston-powered flight took place on 25 Jun 1944; in fact, this first prototype only had its nose-mounted piston engine installed, while the space behind the pilot in the fuselage, where the jet engine was supposed to be installed, was empty. Stability problems caused by mis-calculated center of gravity, however, thus enlarged vertical and horizontal stabilizers were designed and retrofitted to the prototype aircraft. Carrier suitability testing began in Jan 1945, and it was generally successful, though some small tweaks were made to the design as the result. By the spring of 1945, all three prototype aircraft were destroyed in separate crashes; the first two were victims of weak wing structure, while the third crashed after its canopy blew off during flight. In Mar 1945, the US Navy squadron VF-66 was equipped with its first batch of FR Fireball fighters, and in May the pilots qualified for carrier operations. By the time they were readied for combat, WW2 had come to an end. The squadron was decommissioned in Oct 1945, and the aircraft were transferred to squadron VF-41. On 6 Nov 1945, while attempting to make a landing aboard escort carrier USS Wake Island, a FR Fireball fighter's piston engine failed, thus forcing the pilot to use jet power in the landing process, the first landing of its kind in history. Production ended in 1945; a total of 71 aircraft, including the three prototype fighters, were built. Experience between 1946 and 1947 showed that FR Fireball fighters were too fragile to endure repeated carrier landings, thus they were withdrawn from service in Aug 1947. The aircraft ultimately proved to lack the structural strength required for operations aboard aircraft carriers and was withdrawn in mid-1947. Most of these aircraft, US Navy's first using jet-power, were scrapped shortly afterwards.

FR Fireball Timeline

SPECIFICATIONS

FR-1

Machinery	One General Electric J31-GE-3 turbojet rated at 1,600 lbf; one Wright R-1820-72W Cyclone radial engine rated at 1,350 hp
Armament	4x12.7mm M2 Browning machine guns, 2x454kg bombs, 8x127mm rockets
Crew	1
Span	12.19 m
Length	12.19 m
Height	4.24 m
Wing Area	25.60 m²
Weight, Empty	3,488 kg
Weight, Loaded	5,285 kg
Speed, Maximum	650 km/h
Speed, Cruising	246 km/h
Rate of Climb	9.00 m/s
Service Ceiling	13,137 m
Range, Maximum	2,610 km

Photographs