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Wilmington, North Carolina once had a thriving Black middle class and an elected interracial government. In 1898 white supremacists used violence to overthrow that government, kill Black residents and drive many others from the city.
MORE →Reflects the personal views, recollections, and perspective of the author, Mike Davis.
This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985
| XP-48 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General information | |
| Type | Fighter aircraft |
National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | Douglas Aircraft Company |
| Status | Cancelled 1940 |
| Primary user | United States Army Air Corps |
| Number built | None |
The Douglas XP-48 was a small, lightweight fighter aircraft, designed by Douglas Aircraft in 1939 for evaluation by the U.S. Army Air Corps. Intended to be powered by a small inline piston engine, the contract was cancelled before a prototype could be constructed, due to the Army's concerns about the projected performance of the aircraft.[1]
In the years before the outbreak of World War II, a number of countries became intrigued by the idea of developing a very light fighter aircraft,[2] with these proposals often being derived from the design of racing aircraft. Following the consideration of a modified French Caudron racer by the U.S. Army Air Corps, a proposition that was considered uneconomical,[2] Douglas Aircraft made an unsolicited proposal to the Army Air Corps of their Model 312 design in 1939.[2]
Intended to be powered by a Ranger XV-770 inverted V-12 engine equipped with a supercharger, Douglas' proposal was considered worth pursuing by the Army Air Corps, and on 5 August 1939 a single prototype was ordered. The Model 312 was given the Army designation XP-48, the 48th aircraft type in the Pursuit category.[3]
Closely resembling the later Bell XP-77,[4] the design of the XP-48 featured a wing of remarkably high aspect ratio, and was equipped with a pair of synchronized machine guns for armament,[3] Douglas touted the XP-48 as offering outstanding performance, with a top speed of at least 350 miles per hour (560 km/h),[3] and, according to Douglas' estimates, possibly as high as 525 miles per hour (845 km/h).[5]
However, this very aspect of its design was regarded with suspicion by the Army Air Corps.[3] The Ranger engine was suffering from development difficulties and delays and would never prove truly reliable.[6] At the same time, Douglas' performance estimates became increasingly regarded as being over-optimistic.[7] Accordingly, in February 1940 the Army cancelled the XP-48 contract,[3] and without government funding Douglas ceased development of the aircraft.[5]
General characteristics
Performance
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Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
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Source: Wikipedia. Article content is retrieved live through the MediaWiki API.
The Douglas XP-48 was a small, lightweight fighter aircraft, designed by Douglas Aircraft in 1939 for evaluation by the U.S. Army Air Corps. Intended to be powered by a small inline piston engine, the contract was cancelled before a prototype could be constructed, due to the Army's concerns about the projected performance of the aircraft.
Tucker XP-57 was the designation of a lightweight fighter which was proposed to the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) in 1940. Nicknamed the "Peashooter", it was developed by the Tucker Aviation Corporation under Preston Tucker, who later became famous for the Tucker '48 Sedan. To minimize weight, the aircraft was to have a steel tubular frame with aluminum skin and plywood wings. The inline-8 engine, designed by Harry Miller of Indy 500 racing fame, was to sit behind the pilot in a configuration similar to the P-39 Airacobra. The USAAC ordered an XP-57 prototype. When design was delayed due to financial problems in the company, the contract was allowed to lapse. No production aircraft was built because the USAAC was moving towards larger fighters and had lost interest in the project.
The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is an American twin-engine, all-weather fighter aircraft designed by McDonnell Douglas (now part of Boeing). Following reviews of proposals, the United States Air Force (USAF) selected McDonnell Douglas's design in 1969 to meet the service's need for a dedicated air superiority fighter. The Eagle took its maiden flight in July 1972, and entered service in 1976. It is among the most successful modern fighters, with over 104 victories and no losses in air-to-air combat. The Eagle has been exported to several countries, including Israel, Japan, and Saudi Arabia. Although the F-15 was originally envisioned as a pure air superiority fighter, its design included a secondary ground-attack capability that was largely unused. It proved flexible enough that an improved all-weather strike derivative, the F-15E Strike Eagle, was later developed. That fighter entered service in 1989 and has been exported to several nations. Several additional Eagle and Strike Eagle subvariants have been produced for foreign customers, with production of enhanced variants ongoing. The F-15 was the principal air superiority fighter of the USAF and several U.S. allies during the late Cold War, replacing the F-4 Phantom II. The Eagle was first used in combat by the Israeli Air Force in 1979 and saw extensive action in the 1982 Lebanon War. In USAF service, the aircraft saw combat action in the 1991 Gulf War and the conflict over Yugoslavia. The USAF began replacing its air superiority F-15 fighters with the F-22 Raptor in the 2000s. However, reduced procurement of the F-22 pushed the retirement of the remaining F-15C/D, mostly in the Air National Guard, to 2030 and forced the service to supplement the F-22 with an advanced Eagle variant, the F-15EX, to maintain enough air superiority fighters. The F-15 remains in service with several countries.
The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather supersonic, twin-engined, carrier-capable, multirole combat aircraft, designed as both a fighter and ground attack aircraft (hence the F/A designation). Designed by McDonnell Douglas and Northrop, the F/A-18 was derived from the YF-17 that lost against the YF-16 in the United States Air Force's lightweight fighter program. The United States Navy selected the YF-17 for the Navy Air Combat Fighter program, further developed the design and renamed it F/A-18; the United States Marine Corps would also adopt the aircraft. The Hornet is also used by the air forces of several other nations, and formerly by the U.S. Navy's Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels. The F/A-18 was designed to be a highly versatile aircraft due to its avionics, cockpit displays, and excellent aerodynamic characteristics for high angles-of-attack maneuvers, with the ability to carry a wide variety of weapons. The aircraft can perform fighter escort, fleet air defense, suppression of enemy air defenses, air interdiction, close air support, and aerial reconnaissance. Its versatility and reliability have proven it to be a valuable carrier asset. The Hornet entered operational service with the U.S. Navy in 1983, gradually replacing the A-7 Corsair II and the remaining F-4 Phantom IIs. The aircraft first saw combat action during the 1986 United States bombing of Libya and subsequently participated in the 1991 Gulf War, operations over Bosnia and Kosovo in the 1990s, and in the 2003 Iraq War as well as follow-on operations in the Middle East. The F/A-18 Hornet served as the baseline for the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, its larger, evolutionary redesign, which supplanted both the older Hornet and the F-14 Tomcat in the U.S. Navy. The remaining legacy Navy Hornets were retired in 2019 with the fielding of the F-35C Lightning II.
Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.
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