XL-19B climb rate @ sea level was 1380 ft/min. The standard L-19 was 1290 ft/min. The Xl-19 B set an altitude record for weight and class in July 1953 of 37,063 feet using the Boeing 502-2 engine. He flamed out after a climb of 1-1/2 hours, and glided to a deadstick landing at the Cessna airfield (glide lasted 45 minutes). This plane suffered 19 forced landings from flameouts during testing and finally snagged a fence on its last forced landing and totalled the plane (Aug 1954.)

There was another turbine BirdDog, the XL-19C, that used a Continental-Turbomeca-Artouste I engine (two were built a year after the "B" model). It had a climb rate of 1680 ft/min and a cruise speed of 170 mph (vs L-19's 104 and XL-19B 151 mph