XFL-1: Bell Model 5 AIRABONITA?
The tail wheel configuration on what looked like a P-39 threw me.
I didn't know about this aircraft.
This may not be the right answer, but I sure learned something new today.
Thanks.
Link: BELL FL AIRABONITA
On 13 May 1940, the XFL-1 was scheduled to engage in taxi tests at Buffalo Airport, New York. While engaged in a high-speed taxi test, a gust of wind caused the aircraft to become airborne and since the pilot was running out of runway, he chose to remain in flight. After rising a few hundred feet, one of the doors for the flotation bag opened and the bag to exit the compartment; the second compartment also opened and the bag exited. After a short period, both bags were carried away by the wind.
The initial ground test in May 1940 revealed engine cooling problems which plagued the aircraft through its four year life. Another problem was inadequate directional stability, a problem that had first been determined by wind tunnel tests made at the University of Michigan. As a result of these tests, Bell had added fillets, dorsal fins and duct modifications to the XFL-1 but none cured the stability problems. Bell then tried larger horizontal and vertical tail surfaces to no avail.
After testing by Bell, the aircraft was flown to the Naval Aircraft Factory as NAS Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 27 February 1941 for further tests. During carrier qualification tests on 12 May 1941, the landing gear failed and the aircraft was declared “to be unsatisfactory for use as a carrier aircraft or for arrested landings.” As a result of this failure and the superiority of Vought’s Model V-166B or Grumman’s Model G-34 XF5F-1, the Navy signed a contract with Vought-Sikorsky for 584 F4U-1 Corsairs on 30 June 1941.
In 1942, the XFL-1 was transferred to the Aircraft Armament Unit at NAS Norfolk, Virginia, for anti-aircraft tests. In March 1944, it was transferred to NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, and was stricken from service on 25 April 1944. After the war, the runways at NAS Patuxent River were extended into the Chesapeake Bay to accommodate jet aircraft and the XFL-1, sans engine and equipment, was used as landfill. An inglorious end to a unique aircraft.