FR Fireball

Infobox Aircraft
name = FR-1 Fireball

---

caption =
type = Fighter
manufacturer = Ryan Aeronautical
designer =
first flight = 25 June 1944
introduced = March 1945
retired =
status =
primary user = United States Navy
more users =
produced = 1944–1945
number built = 66
unit cost =
variants with their own articles =

The Ryan FR Fireball was a composite propeller and jet-powered aircraft designed for the United States Navy during World War II. The Fireball entered service before the end of the war, but did not see combat. The FR-1 Fireball was the U.S. Navy's first aircraft with jet propulsion.

Design and development

Design began in 1943 to a proposal instigated by Admiral John S. McCain, Sr. for a composite-powered fighter; early jet engines had sluggish acceleration which was considered unsafe and unsuitable for aircraft carrier takeoff and landing. Ryan aeronautical engineer Benjamin Tyler Salmon was tasked with designing an aircraft to meet these criteria. His solution was a composite design that allowed for conventional piston-powered flight but gave a jet for higher speeds.

The first prototype flew on 25 June 1944, but it was lost in a crash at China Lake NAS in October that year. Investigation showed that the wing rivets were insufficiently strong, a problem cured by doubling the number of rivets, but not before the other two prototypes crashed in similar fashion.

Operational history

Orders for 700 aircraft were placed, but only 66 were delivered before Japan's surrender. One squadron, VF-66, was equipped with the aircraft before war's end, but they never saw combat. The Fireball was the first American aircraft to land under jet power on a ship, on the escort carrier USS "Wake Island" on 6 November 1945. US Navy pilots considered "Fireball" to be a uniquely poorly chosen name, given its "fiery accident" connotations.

The aircraft were withdrawn in 1947, fairly soon after the war's end. With the rapid advance in technology, and the removal of the pressing need to get "anything" into combat quickly, the Navy decided to wait for better aircraft to be developed.

The FR-1 Fireball was further developed into the XFR-2 which used a 1,500 hp Wright R-1820-74W in place of the -72W. One single airframe was converted to this configuration. No prototypes were built for the next proposed variant, the FR-3, which would use a General Electric I-20 turbojet. The fastest Fireball was the XFR-4, which had a Westinghouse J34 Turbojet and was some 100 mph faster than the FR-1. [McDowell 1995, p. 39.] The final variant was the XF2R-1 Dark Shark, which replaced the piston engine with a General Electric XT31-GE-2 turboprop, but this never entered service, though a prototype was built. This was used by Al Conover to set a new world altitude record for turboprop aircraft of 39,160 feet on 2 May 1947. [McDowell 1995, p. 45.]

Operators

;USA
* United States Navy

The "Firebirds" squadron was known under three names:
** VF-66 (May 1945–October 1945)
** VF-41 (October 1945–November 1946)
** VF-1E (November 1946–mid-1947)

** VRF-32

pecifications (FR-1)

aircraft specifications
plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=both

ref=

crew=one
length main= 32 ft 4 in
length alt= 12.19 m
span main= 40 ft 0 in
span alt= 12.19 m
height main= 13 ft 7¼ in
height alt= 4.15 m
area main= 275 ft²
area alt= 25.6 m²
empty weight main= 7,915 lb
empty weight alt= 3,590 kg
loaded weight main= 10,595 lb
loaded weight alt= 4,806 kg

engine (jet)= General Electric J31-GE-3
type of jet= turbojet
number of jets=1
thrust main= 1,600 lbf
thrust alt= 7.1 kN (700 kgf)
engine (prop)= Wright R-1820-72W Cyclone
type of prop= radial engine
number of props=1
power main= 1,350 hp
power alt= 1,060 kW

max speed with both engines main= 426 mph
max speed with both engines alt= 686 km/h
max speed with radial engine only main= 295 mph
max speed with radial engine only alt= 475 km/h
cruise speed (radial engine only) main= 153 mph
cruise speed (radial engine only) alt= 246 km/h
range main= 1,300 miles
range alt= 2,100 km
ceiling main= 43,100 ft
ceiling alt= 13,136.9 m
climb rate main= 80 ft/s
climb rate alt= 24.4 m/s

armament=
* 4 × .50 cal M2 Browning machine gun with 300 rounds each
* 2 × 1,000 lb (450 kg) bombs
* 8 × rockets under wings 127 mm. caliber
avionics=

ee also

aircontent
related=
* F2R Dark Shark

similar aircraft=
* Curtiss XF15C

lists=
* List of military aircraft of the United States

see also=

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Ginter, Steve. "Ryan FR-1 Fireball and XF2R-1 Darkshark, Naval Fighters Number 28"'. Simi Valley, CA: Ginter Books, 1995. ISBN 0-942612-28-0.
* Green, William. "Ryan FR-1 Fireball". "'War Planes of the Second World War, Volume Four: Fighters". London: Macdonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd., 1961 (6th impression 1969), pp. 186–187. ISBN 0-356-01448-7.
* Green, William and Gordon Swanborough. "Ryan FR-1 Fireball". "WW2 Fact Files: US Navy and Marine Corps Fighters". London, UK: Macdonald and Jane's, 1976, p. 66-68. ISBN 0-356-08222-9.
* McDowell, Ernest. "FR-1 Fireball (Mini in action number 5)". Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal Publications Inc., 1995. ISBN 0-89747-344-2.

External links

* [http://tanks45.tripod.com/Jets45/Histories/Ryan-FR-1_XF2R-1/FR-1_XF2R-1.htm Ryan FR-1 "Fireball" / XF2R-1 "DarkShark" page on Jets45 website]