Douglas XB - 43 Jetmaster The Douglas XB - 43 Jetmaster was an American 1940s jet - powered prototype bomber aircraft . The XB - 43 was a development of the XB - 42 , replacing the piston engines of the XB - 42 with two General Electric J35 engines of 4 , 000 lbf ( 17 . 8 kN ) thrust each . Despite being the first American jet bomber to fly , it suffered stability issues and the design did not enter production . Design and development . United States Army Air Forces ( USAAF ) leaders in the Air Materiel Command began to consider the possibilities of jet - propelled bombers as far back as October 1943 . At that time , Douglas Aircraft was just beginning to design a promising twin - engine bomber designated the XB - 42 . Reciprocating engines powered this aircraft but they were buried in the fuselage , leaving the laminar - airfoil wing clean of any drag - inducing pylon mounts or engine cowlings . The airframe appeared ideally suited to test turbojet propulsion . Douglas confirmed the feasibility of the concept and the USAAF amended the XB - 42 contract in March 1944 to include the development of two turbojet - powered XB - 43 prototypes , reduced from an initial order of 13 test aircraft . The Douglas design team convinced the Army that modifying the XB - 42 static test airframe into the first XB - 43 was a relatively straightforward process that would save time and money compared to developing a brand new design . Douglas replaced the two Allison V - 1710 engines with a pair of General Electric ( GE ) J35 turbojets , then cut two air intakes into each side of the fuselage , aft of the pressurized cockpit . Removing the propellers and drive shafts freed enough space for two long jet exhaust ducts . Without any propellers present , there was no chance of striking the blade tips on the runway , so the entire ventral fin / rudder unit of the earlier XB - 42 ' s full four - surface cruciform tail was omitted . Douglas compensated for the loss of yaw stability by enlarging the dorsal fin / rudder unit . Douglas Aircraft was keen to mass - produce the new bomber and the USAAF considered ordering 50 . The company was poised to roll out as many as 200 B - 43s per month in two versions : a bomber equipped with a clear plastic nose for the bombardier , and an attack aircraft without the clear nose and bombing station but carrying 16 forward - firing . 50 in ( 12 . 7 mm ) machine guns and 36 5 in ( 127 mm ) rockets . Nothing came of these plans . The USAAF was already moving ahead with a new bomber , the XB - 45 Tornado , designed from the outset for turbojet power and promising a quantum leap in every category of performance . Operational history . As Douglas predicted , the work itself was not overly complex but almost two years were required to ready the aircraft for flight due to delays in obtaining the J35 powerplants . The end of World War II caused a general slowdown within the aviation industry and GE was late delivering the engines . When they were at last installed and tested on the ground , one of the units failed catastrophically . Compressor blades exploded through the engine casing , damaging the surrounding airframe and injuring a ground technician . Another seven - month delay ensued for repairs . America ' s first turbojet bomber finally flew from Muroc Army Air Base on 17 May 1946 , piloted by Douglas test pilot , Bob Brush , accompanied by engineer Russell Thaw . Caught in a momentous technological shift , the XB - 43 contributed to developing procedures for flying the new jet bombers , and it gave yeoman service testing new turbojet engines . Douglas completed the second prototype , AAF serial number " 44 - 61509 " , flying on 15 May 1947 and delivered it to Muroc Air Force Base , California , in April 1948 . The USAAF soon replaced one J35 turbojet engine with a General Electric J47 . Douglas delivered the second prototype , designated YB - 43 , in April 1948 . That aircraft was nicknamed " Versatile II " by USAAF personnel . When the clear plastic nose began to crack from variations in temperature at high and low altitudes , mechanics fashioned a more durable replacement made from plywood . To keep it flying , the US Air Force cannibalized parts from the first XB - 43 after it was damaged in February 1951 . " Versatile II " flew more than 300 hours until its retirement in December 1953 . XB - 43 , YB - 43 and A - 43 . The U . S . Air Force only considered the first prototype to fall under the XB - 43 designation . The second prototype , though functionally identical to the first , was designated YB - 43 , consistent with its status as a follow - on prototype under the Army ' s designation system for aircraft . At one point , the aircraft may have also been designated as " attack " aircraft , A - 43 , not to be confused with the Curtis XP - 87 , a project which started as an attack aircraft under the same designation . The A - 43 was to have eight machine guns in a solid nose replacing the bombardier ' s position .