RE: Knowledge Quiz for Warbird wiz
Early morning clue. Thanks; Ernie P.
Question: What WWII aircraft do I describe?
Clues:
(1) Really, really, fast for a propeller driven aircraft.
(2) Only two prototypes were completed. Testing results were so impressive, with such exceptional performance, an order was placed for 100 production aircraft.
(3) The order was cancelled, because it was felt other types of aircraft were needed more.
(4) This aircraft was to be an interceptor; and it was decided priority must be given to longer range fighters.
(5) Power, a lot of it, was delivered by an experimental liquid cooled radial engine.
(6) The first prototype flew for the first time in early 1944. The second prototype flew in mid 1944.
(7) The second prototype used a contra-rotating propeller.
(8) A new generation of turbojet powered interceptors was on the horizon by the end of WWII, so this promising new interceptor was relegated to the scrapheap.
(9) The engine produced over 3,000 HP, and weighed nearly two tons.
(10) The prototype reached 480 MPH, even though the planned remote supercharger had not yet been installed. The supercharged 3,650 HP engine was expected to exceed 500 MPH easily; and a planned 4,000+ HP engine was expected to yield over 540 MPH.