General Aviation XFA

XFA

Role	Fighter
National origin	United States
Manufacturer	General Aviation Company
First flight	1932^[1]
Number built	1

The General Aviation XFA was an American biplane fighter aircraft built by the General Aviation Company for the United States Navy.

Development

The PW-4 was built for U.S. Navy Specification No. 96, calling for a carrier-based light fighter. This specification was eventually revealed as a cover for the Navy's actual desire for an airship fighter, the Curtiss XF9C. The XFA was a single-bay biplane with an all-metal fuselage and metal laminate skin. The construction of its fuselage was innovative in that instead of using lap jointing, the edges of each panel were bent inwards, with the rivets fastening them on the inside, instead of being visible on the surface. It had a gull-type upper wing which was fabric covered. The prototype was ordered in 1930, but the company was engaged in another reorganization, which delayed its work. Delivered for evaluations in 1932, it showed poor flying characteristics, including longitudinal instability and over-sensitive controls. General Aircraft increased the area of the tail surfaces and made other changes, then returned the prototype for more testing; but now the stability problems were worse. The plane would nose up with more throttle, but then drop its nose when the throttle was reduced. After another round of modifications, and some close calls, the plane was finally classed as unsafe and testing was abandoned.^[1]

Specifications

Data from Angelucci, 1987. pp. 203-204.^[1]

General characteristics

Crew: 1
Length: 22 ft 2 in (6.75 m)
Wingspan: 25 ft 6 in (7.77 m)
Height: 9 ft 3 in (2.81 m)
Wing area: 175 ft² (16.25 m²)
Empty weight: 1,837 lb (833 kg)
Gross weight: 2,508 lb (1,138 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Pratt & Whitney R-1340-C, 450 hp ( kW) each

Performance

Maximum speed: 170 mph (274 km/h)
Range: 518 miles (834 km)
Service ceiling: 20,200 ft (6,157 m)
Rate of climb: 1470 ft/min (7.47 m/s)

Armament

2 × .30 in (7.62 mm) machine guns

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to General Aviation XFA.

Citations

1 2 3 Angelucci, 1987. pp. 203-204.

Bibliography

Angelucci, Enzo (1987). The American Fighter from 1917 to the present. New York: Orion Books.
Lloyd S. Jones, U.S. Naval Fighters (Fallbrook CA: Aero Publishers, 1977, ISBN 0-8168-9254-7), pp. 89–91

United States Navy fighter designations pre-1962

General Aviation Brewster	FA FA² F2A F3A

Boeing	FB F2B F3B F4B F5B F6B F7B F8B

Curtiss	CF F2C F3C F4C F5C¹ F6C F7C F8C F9C F10C F11C F12C F13C F14C F15C

Douglas McDonnell	XFD F2D² F3D F4D F5D F6D FD F2D to "H"

Grumman	FF F2F F3F F4F F5F F6F F7F F8F F9F-1 to -5 F9F-6 to -8 F10F F11F F12F

Eberhart Goodyear	FG F2G FG F2G

Hall McDonnell	FH FH F2H F3H F4H

Berliner-Joyce North American	FJ F2J F3J FJ-1 FJ-2/3 FJ-4

Loening Bell	FL FL YF2L-1 F2L-1K F3L

General Motors	FM F2M F3M

Naval Aircraft Factory	FN

Lockheed	FO (I) FO (II)

Ryan	FR F2R F3R

Supermarine	FS

Northrop	FT F2T

Vought	FU F2U F3U F4U F5U F6U F7U F8U F8U-3

Lockheed	FV

Wright CC&F	WP F2W F3W FW² F2W² F3W² F4W

Convair	FY F2Y

¹ Not assigned • ² Assigned to a different manufacturer's type See also: Aeromarine AS • Vought VE-7

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