Curtiss-Wright XP-55 Ascender, United States, circa 1945

Description: 

Photograph. Side view of Curtiss-Wright XP-55 Ascender. Official Caption: "(Series of three) Rome. 6/11/45. A head-on view of the plane resembles a weird-looking sea monster. The new low-wing, all-metal, 'tail-first' fighter plane is a fast and highly maneuverable pusher type plane which appears to fly backward. 6653-W." Additional text--"(Series of three) ROME, 6/11/45--New 'Back-flying' plane--here are three pictures on the new U.S. Ascender, a 'back-flying', fast-climbing plane.--FF Photos--Serviced by Rome OWI (A List out). Approved by appropriate military authority. -o- A close-up of the nose of the Ascender shows the location of the air scoops in relation to the pusher engine. The radio aerial protruding from the ship's belly beneath the pilot's compartment extends to the lower vertical fin. 6653-V." -o- A head-on view of the plane resembles a weird-looking sea monster. The new low-wing, all-metal, 'tail-first' fighter plane is a fast and highly maneuverable pusher type plane which appears to fly backward. 6653-W." -o- A flight view of the Ascender. The 'tail-first' plane has forward control surfaces and rudders near the wing tips while the engine is in its rear. 6653-X." United States. 11 June 1945

Image Information

Donor: 
Dylan Utley
Accession Number: 
2012.019.678
Date: 
06/11/1945
Location: 
Hometown: 
Branch: 
Theater of Service: 
Unit: 
Campaign / Event: 
POW / KIA: 
Topical Subjects: 
Airplanes--American--United States
Fighter planes--American--United States
Collection Level: 
Items from the service of Isaac "Ike" Bethel Utley, who was born in Smith Mills, Kentucky on 3 March 1920. Ike enlisted in the Army Air Corps on 19 January 1942. He was shipped overseas to the European Theatre and worked with a supply division based out of the city of Naples with an office set up in a residential villa. Utley worked with the Office of War Information and used their photographs in news articles to inform soldiers of the progress of the war. At war's end, Utley returned stateside. A trunk full of over 800 photographs from the O.W.I. arrived on his doorstep from his office in Italy, sender unknown. This collection consists of those photographs.
Geography: 
United States
Latitude: 
38.000
Longitude: 
-98.000
Thesaurus for Graphic Materials: 
Airplanes--American--United States
Fighter planes--American--United States