Curtiss xp-55 Ascender

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I think that technically the XP-55 was not a canard because the forward control surface was an elevator and not a wing.

Anyway, too bad they never put a jet engine in it.
 
Aircraft disposition

42-78845: crashed during vertical dive on Nov 15, 1943. Pilot bailed out.
42-78846: on display at the Air Zoo in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It is on long-term loan from the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
42-78847: crashed during air show at Wright Field, Ohio on May 27, 1945. Pilot killed.

General characteristics

Crew: One (pilot)
Length: 29 ft 7 in (9.02 m)
Wingspan: 40 ft 7 in (12.37 m)
Height: 10 ft 0 in (3.05 m)
Wing area: 235 sq ft (21.8 m2)
Empty weight: 6,354 lb (2,882 kg)
Gross weight: 7,710 lb (3,497 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 7,930 lb (3,597 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Allison V-1710-95 liquid-cooled V12 engine, 1,275 hp (951 kW)
Performance

Maximum speed: 390 mph (630 km/h, 340 kn) at 19,300 feet (5,900 m)
Range: 635 mi (1,022 km, 552 nmi)
Service ceiling: 34,600 ft (10,500 m)
Wing loading: 32.8 lb/sq ft (160 kg/m2)
Power/mass: 0.16 hp/lb
Armament
Guns: 4 × 0.50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns in the nose
 
The reports are interesting. I always wondered if they had extended the fuselage with a plug behind the pilot big enough for a turbocharger similar to the P-47's. I'd think (with my just enough to get me in trouble aerodynamics knowledge) that would, along with increasing the area of the elevators till they were more actually canards, also help the stall characteristics.

Really though I can't help but wonder if the best thing that could have happened to it was a pair of J-35's in place of the V-1710 with the plug used for them and fuel.
 
johnbr said:
Aircraft disposition

42-78845: crashed during vertical dive on Nov 15, 1943. Pilot bailed out.
Click to expand...

Actually it was during stall tests.

The aircraft flipped on its back and fell to the ground in a flat orientation, but inverted. There was no forward speed, so the control surfaces were ineffective.

Pilot was able to bail out only after the aircraft fell many thousands of feet.
 
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