Small Plane, Big Promises: Douglas XP-48

In this video, we talk about the Douglas XP-48, a pre-World War 2 fighter design from Douglas Aircraft made to combine the best of racing aircraft and interceptor aircraft to form a teeny tiny little plane. We first talk about small aircraft, like the Soviet Yak-3, why some aircraft are smaller, and where the bulk of a fighter aircraft's weight comes from. We look at two example fighters, the Vought F4U Corsair and the Focke Wulf FW 190, and see where a good deal of their weight comes from.

We then compare that to the XP-48 design, with its extremely small engine and horribly small fuel tank. We also look at the projected performance Douglas gave the design and why, shortly thereafter, the design and contract was cancelled, never to reach a mock-up or a prototype. We end by figuring out what the performance may have been by comparing it to a similar project, the Bell XP-77.