Lockheed YP-24

{{Infobox aircraft

| name = YP-24
Y1A-9

| image = Detroit-Lockheed YP-24 060906-F-1234P-012.jpg

| caption =

| type = Fighter
Ground attack

| manufacturer = Detroit Lockheed

| designer = Robert J. Woods

| first_flight = 1931

| introduction =

| retired =

| produced =

| number_built = 1

| status = Prototype

| primary_user = United States Army Air Corps

| more_users =

| developed_from =

| variants = Consolidated P-30

}}

The Lockheed-Detroit YP-24 was a 1930s prototype two-seat fighter aircraft produced by Detroit Lockheed. An attack version called the A-9 was also proposed. The YP-24 is most notable for being the first fighter aircraft to bear the Lockheed name.

Design and development

In 1930, Detroit Aircraft Corporation undertook a private venture to develop a new fighter ("pursuit aircraft" in contemporary terminology) for US Army Air Corps based on the successful Lockheed Altair transport plane. Designed by Robert J. Woods, the aircraft was completed in 1931 with Detroit Aircraft fabricating the metal fuselage and Lockheed providing the wooden wings, essentially identical to the Altair. Wright Field assigned the prototype the designation XP-900. Vance Breese was hired to be the chief test pilot for the project.{{cite journal|journal=Skyways|title=Breese-Dallas Model 1|author=Robert F. Pauley|page=61}} The aircraft was purchased by USAAC in September 1931 and redesignated YP-24, serial number 32-320. Early testing was sufficiently impressive to generate an order for five Y1P-24 fighters and four Y1A-9 attack aircraft intended to replace the Berliner-Joyce P-16. The A-9 differed in having four forward-firing machine guns, underwing racks for bombs, and a V-1570-27 engine better low-altitude performance.{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=2247|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005213006/http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=2247|archive-date=2013-10-05|title=Fact Sheet: Detroit-Lockheed YP-24|website=Museum of the United States Air Force|access-date=2017-07-15}}

Operational history

File:Detroit-Lockheed YP-24 side view.jpg

On 19 October 1931, the sole aircraft crashed. The aircraft had a partially stuck landing gear, and Wright Field pilots painted messages on the side of their P-12D and O-25C aircraft, indicating to test pilot Lt. Harrison Crocker to bail out.Skyways, April 2001, p. 59.

Shortly after, in October 1931, events in the Great Depression forced Detroit Aircraft into bankruptcy with Lockheed following suit in June 1932. Although Lockheed was resuscitated by a group of investors only five days after it closed doors, the financial hardships had taken their toll and the P-24/A-9 project was cancelled with no aircraft built beyond the original prototype. Four pre-production Y1P-24s, 32-321/324, were cancelled.Andrade 1979, p. 144. However, after Robert Woods left Detroit Aircraft for Consolidated Aircraft, he continued to develop the YP-24/A-9 concept into the Consolidated Y1P-25/Y1A-11 which eventually entered service as the Consolidated P-30.{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=2197|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121002145315/http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=2197|archive-date=2012-10-02|title=Fact Sheet: Consolidated P-30|website=Museum of the United States Air Force|access-date=2017-07-15}}

Specifications (YP-24)

{{Aircraft specs

|ref=Lockheed Aircraft since 1913Francillon 1982, pp. 114–116.

|prime units?=imp

|crew=2

|length ft=28

|length in=9

|length note=

|span ft=42

|span in=9+1/2

|span note=

|height ft=8

|height in=6

|height note=

|wing area sqft=292

|wing area note=

|aspect ratio=

|airfoil=

|empty weight lb=3010

|empty weight note=

|gross weight lb=4360

|gross weight note=

|max takeoff weight lb=

|max takeoff weight note=

|fuel capacity=

|more general=

|eng1 number=1

|eng1 name=Curtiss V-1570-23 Conqueror

|eng1 type=V-12 liquid-cooled piston engine

|eng1 hp=600

|eng1 note=

|prop blade number=3

|prop name=fixed-pitch propeller

|prop dia ft=

|prop dia in=

|prop dia note=

|max speed mph=235

|max speed note=

|cruise speed mph=215

|cruise speed note=

|stall speed mph=

|stall speed note=

|never exceed speed mph=

|never exceed speed note=

|range miles=556

|range note=

|combat range miles=

|combat range note=

|ferry range miles=

|ferry range note=

|endurance=

|ceiling ft=25000

|ceiling note=

|g limits=

|roll rate=

|climb rate ftmin=1820

|climb rate note=

|time to altitude=

|wing loading lb/sqft=

|wing loading note=

|fuel consumption lb/mi=

|power/weight=

|more performance=

|guns=

:* 1 × {{cvt|0.50|in|1}} machine gun fixed forward-firing through the propeller disc

:* 1 × {{cvt|0.30|in|2}} machine gun fixed forward-firing through the propeller disc

:* 1 × {{cvt|0.30|in|2}} machine gun in rear cockpit

}}

References

=Citations=

=Bibliography=

Andrade, John M. U.S. Military Aircraft Designations and Serials since 1909. Earl Shilton, Leicester, UK: Midland Counties Publications, 1979. {{ISBN|0-904597-21-0}}.
Bowers, Peter M. and Enzo Angellucci. The American Fighter. New York: Orion Books, 1987. {{ISBN|0-517-56588-9}}.
Francillon, René J. Lockheed Aircraft Since 1913. London: Putnam, 1982. {{ISBN|0-370-30329-6}}.
Francillon, René J. Lockheed Aircraft Since 1913. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1987. {{ISBN|0-87021-897-2}}.
Swanborough, Gordon and Peter M. Bowers. United States Military Aircraft Since 1909. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Publications, 1989. {{ISBN|0-87474-880-1}}.