Ryan XF2R Dark Shark

The Ryan XF2R Dark Shark was an American experimental aircraft built for the United States Navy that combined turboprop and turbojet propulsion. It was based on Ryan Aeronautical's earlier FR Fireball, but replaced the Fireball's piston engine with a turboprop engine.

XF2R Dark Shark
General information
Type	Fighter
National origin	United States
Manufacturer	Ryan Aeronautical
Status	Canceled
Number built	1 prototype
History
First flight	November 1946
Developed from	Ryan FR Fireball

Design and development

The XF2R-1 in flight.

The XF2R Dark Shark was based on Ryan Aeronautical's earlier FR Fireball, but replaced the Fireball's piston engine with a General Electric T31 turboprop engine driving a 4-bladed Hamilton Standard propeller. The turboprop made for much improved performance over the Fireball, and Ryan proposed the XF2R-2 to use a Westinghouse J34 turbojet in place of the General Electric J31 used as the auxiliary turbojet for the XF2R-1. The XF2R-2 also had a squared-off vertical stabilizer and jet intakes moved to the sides of the forward fuselage with NACA ducts instead of the inlets in the wing leading edge for the XF2R-1.

Although the Dark Shark proved to be a capable aircraft, it never progressed beyond the prototype stage and the XF2R-2 was canceled without being built because the Navy had abandoned the idea of the combination fighter and was instead looking into all-jet fighters, which it considered superior.

Specifications (XF2R-1)

3-view line drawing of the Ryan XF2R Dark Shark

Data from The Complete Book of Fighters^[1]

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 36 ft 0 in (10.97 m)
• Wingspan: 42 ft 0 in (12.80 m)
• Height: 14 ft 0 in (4.27 m)
• Wing area: 305 sq ft (28.3 m²)
• Airfoil: root: NACA 65-117 a=1; tip: NACA 65-115 a=.5^[2]
• Gross weight: 11,000 lb (4,990 kg)
• Powerplant: 1 × General Electric T31 turboprop engine, 1,760 shp (1,310 kW)
• Powerplant: 1 × General Electric J31 centrifugal-flow turbojet engine, 1,600 lbf (7.1 kN) thrust
• Propellers: 4-bladed constant-speed fully-feathering propeller

Performance

• Maximum speed: 497 mph (800 km/h, 432 kn) at sea level
• Service ceiling: 39,100 ft (11,900 m)
• Rate of climb: 4,850 ft/min (24.6 m/s)
• Wing loading: 36.1 lb/sq ft (176 kg/m²)

Armament

• Guns: 4 × .50-inch (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns

See also

Related development

• Ryan FR Fireball

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

• Convair XP-81
• Curtiss XF15C
• Grumman XTB3F Guardian

Related lists

• List of fighter aircraft
• List of United States Navy aircraft designations (pre-1962)
• List of military aircraft of the United States