Curtiss P - 60 The Curtiss P - 60 was a 1940s United States single - engine single - place , low - wing monoplane fighter aircraft developed by the Curtiss - Wright company as a successor to their P - 40 . It went through a lengthy series of prototype versions , eventually evolving into a design that bore little resemblance to the P - 40 . None of these versions reached production . Design and development . The initial design contained in proposals to the United States Army Air Corps was for an aircraft based upon the P - 40 design but featuring a low drag laminar flow wing , a Continental XIV - 1430 - 3 inverted vee engine , and eight wing - mounted 0 . 5 in ( 12 . 7 mm ) machine guns . This proposal was accepted and a contract for two prototypes was issued on 1 October 1940 with the aircraft designated the XP - 53 . Within two months the Army Air Corps modified the contract to require the second prototype be completed with a Rolls - Royce Merlin engine in place of the XIV - 1430 . That aircraft was re - designated XP - 60 . The airframe design for the XP - 60 was modified for the different engine , and the main landing gear was changed from the rearward retracting P - 40 design to a new inward retracting version , which allowed a wider wheelbase and a smooth wing surface when the gear was retracted . This aircraft first flew on 18 September 1941 with a British - built Merlin 28 engine . The XP - 53 prototype was then converted into a static test airframe for the XP - 60 . Considering delivery delays of quantities of the Packard - built Merlin engines due to its use in other fighters , the use of a turbo - supercharged Allison V - 1710 - 75 engine was considered in its place . Consequently , on 31 October 1941 , a contract for 1 , 950 P - 60A fighters using the Allison engine , was awarded . Operational history . In the meantime , flight tests of the XP - 60 prototype were not progressing smoothly . In addition to landing gear problems , expected top speed was not being met due to shortcomings in the laminar - flow wing surface finish , relatively high radiator drag ( compared to the North American P - 51 Mustang , which was then flying ) , and less than specified engine output performance . Consequently , work on the P - 60A was stopped on 20 December 1941 , when the USAAC recommended that Curtiss concentrate on licence production of Republic P - 47 Thunderbolt s . On 2 January 1942 the order was changed to produce one XP - 60A with the Allison V - 1710 - 75 engine and a General Electric B - 14 turbo - supercharger , one XP - 60B with the Allison V - 1710 - 75 engine and a Wright SU - 504 - 1 turbo - supercharger , and one XP - 60C with the massive Chrysler XIV - 2220 sixteen cylinder inverted vee engine . At the time , availability of the Chrysler engine was coming into question , and after Curtiss noted that several hundreds of pounds of lead would be needed in the tail of the existing airframe for balance , a decision was made to install a Pratt & Whitney R - 2800 radial engine in the XP - 60C . In the meantime , Curtiss installed a Merlin 61 engine in the original XP - 60 and after enlarging the vertical tail surface , this aircraft was re - designated XP - 60D . The XP - 60A first flew on 1 November 1942 . While official interest in the P - 60 waned during summer 1942 , interest due to the promise of improved performance with the installation of the R - 2800 engine resulted in a contract for 500 R - 2800 powered P - 60A - 1 - CU fighters with contra - rotating propellers . With concern that the contra - rotating propellers would not be available on time , the XP - 60B was modified to take the R - 2800 - 10 engine driving a four - bladed propeller . This modification was re - designated XP - 60E . On 27 January 1943 , the XP - 60C flew for the first time , powered by a R - 2800 - 53 engine with contra - rotating propellers . The aircraft ' s flying characteristics were found to be generally satisfactory . The first flight of the XP - 60E with the four - bladed propeller , was delayed until 26 May 1943 after it was found that due to its lighter weight , the engine installation had to be moved 10 inches forward compared to the XP - 60C . In April 1943 , the US Army Air Force decided to conduct an evaluation of the various fighter aircraft in development and use , in order to eliminate the least desirable models . Curtiss was requested to have the XP - 60E participate . As the XP - 60E was not available , the company hurriedly prepared the XP - 60C for the evaluation at Patterson Field . In the event , due to various issues , the XP - 60C performed poorly , resulting in reduction of the production run of 500 aircraft to two aircraft . In January 1944 , the XP - 60E was flown to Eglin Field for official trials , where Army Air Force pilots found that it did not compare favorably to contemporary aircraft designs . When Curtiss expressed the desire to abandon further work on the P - 60 series , the Army Air Force insisted upon completion of one of the two aircraft in production . The aircraft when originally ordered was designated YP - 60A - 1 - CU was re - designated YP - 60E . This aircraft flew on 13 July 1944 and was subsequently delivered to Wright Field . The YP - 60E differed mainly from the XP - 60E in being powered by a 2 , 100 hp ( 1 , 566 kW ) R - 2800 - 18 engine as well as the fitting of an all - round vision bubble canopy . With the development contracts cancelled in June 1943 , the program ended ignobly when the last prototype was scrapped on 22 December 1944 . To replace the P - 60 , Curtiss built 354 Republic P - 47G s instead for the USAAF . The XP - 60E survived to be sold as an entry for the 1947 National Air Races , but crashed during a qualifying flight before the competition was held .