page_title: Curtiss-Wright XP-55 Ascender
section_title: Specifications (XP-55)
hierarchical_section_title: Curtiss-Wright XP-55 Ascender / Specifications (XP-55)
caption_attribution_description: Curtiss XP-55 Ascender
context_page_description: The Curtiss-Wright XP-55 Ascender is a 1940s United States prototype fighter aircraft built by Curtiss-Wright. Along with the Vultee XP-54 and Northrop XP-56, it resulted from United States Army Air Corps proposal R-40C issued on 27 November 1939 for aircraft with improved performance, armament, and pilot visibility over existing fighters; it specifically allowed for unconventional aircraft designs. A highly unusual design for its time, it had a canard configuration, a rear-mounted engine, swept wings, and two vertical tails. Because of its pusher design, it was sarcastically referred to as the "Ass-ender". Like the XP-54, the Ascender was initially designed for the Pratt & Whitney X-1800 engine and had to be redesigned when that engine project was canceled. It was also the first Curtiss fighter aircraft to use tricycle landing gear.
context_section_description: Data from Green and Swanborough 1977
  General characteristics
  Crew: One (pilot)
  Length: 29 ft 7 in (9.02 m)
  Wingspan: 40 ft 7 in (12.37 m)
  Height: 10 ft 0 in (3.05 m)
  Wing area: 235 sq ft (21.8 m²)
  Empty weight: 6,354 lb (2,882 kg)
  Gross weight: 7,710 lb (3,497 kg)
  Max takeoff weight: 7,930 lb (3,597 kg)
  Powerplant: 1 × Allison V-1710-95 liquid-cooled V12 engine, 1,275 hp (951 kW)
  Performance
  Maximum speed: 390 mph (630 km/h, 340 kn) at 19,300 feet (5,900 m)
  Range: 635 mi (1,022 km, 552 nmi)
  Service ceiling: 34,600 ft (10,500 m)
  Wing loading: 32.8 lb/sq ft (160 kg/m²)
  Power/mass: 0.16 hp/lb
  Armament
  Guns: 4 × 0.50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns in the nose
caption: Curtis XP-55 Ascender side view.
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