The Douglas XFD was a

carrier-based A carrier-based aircraft (also known as carrier-capable aircraft, carrier-borne aircraft, carrier aircraft or aeronaval aircraft) is a naval aircraft designed for operations from aircraft carriers. Carrier-based aircraft must be able to launch ...

biplane

fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft (early on also ''pursuit aircraft'') are military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air supremacy, air superiority of the battlespace. Domina ...

designed for the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

, and the first fighter to be built by the

Douglas Aircraft Company The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American aerospace manufacturer, aerospace and military, defense company based in Southern California. Founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas Sr., it merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell D ...

. A victim of changing requirements, no production was undertaken.

Design and development

The XFD was designed to the U.S. Navy's

Bureau of Aeronautics The Bureau of Aeronautics (BuAer) was the U.S. Navy's material-support organization for naval aviation from 1921 to 1959. The bureau had "cognizance" (''i.e.'', responsibility) for the design, procurement, and support of naval aircraft and rela ...

(BuAer) Specification No. 311, requesting a carrier-based two-seater biplane fighter. On June 30, 1932, the Navy ordered the XFD, Vought XF3U, and Curtiss XF12C for testing.Angelucci, 1987. pp. 182-183. The first naval fighter designed by Douglas Aircraft,Pattillo 2001, p. 111. the XFD was constructed of metal, with a fabric outer covering. The crew sat in tandem in a single bay, enclosed by a long canopy. The aircraft had fixed

conventional landing gear Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft Landing gear, undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the Center of gravity of an aircraft, center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail ...

, and was designed to be armed with two machine guns, one fixed in the

cowling A cowling (or cowl) is the removable covering of a vehicle's engine, most often found on automobiles, motorcycles, airplanes, and on outboard boat motors. On airplanes, cowlings are used to reduce drag and to cool the engine. On boats, cowlings ...

and the other on a flexible mount for the observer. A bomb load could be carried.Johnson 2011, p. 84. Powered was supplied by a Pratt & Whitney R-1535 Twin Wasp Junior

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating engine, reciprocating type internal combustion engine, internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinder (engine), cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. ...

Operational history

The XFD-1 prototype first flew in January 1933; it was delivered to the U.S. Navy for trials at Naval Air Station Anacostia in June 1933, within four days of the delivery of the Vought XF3U-1; evaluations of the types were undertaken between June 18, 1933 and August 14, 1934. While the XFD-1's performance was considered to be acceptable, the U.S. Navy's operational requirements were already changing to see the two-seat fighter concept falling out of favor, the scout bomber being considered more useful for the Navy's needs, and accordingly after the end of the XFD-1's flight trials no further orders were placed for the type.

Specifications

Douglas XFD-1 running up on 26 June 1933

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * {{USN fighters Cancelled military aircraft projects of the United States F01D 1930s United States fighter aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Biplanes Carrier-based aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1933