{"id":350,"date":"2026-06-21T22:52:01","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T02:52:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aviation.christophermreed.net\/?page_id=350"},"modified":"2026-10-06T04:28:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T04:28:12","slug":"review-american-aircraft-development-of-the-second-world-war-research-experimentation-and-modification-1939-1945","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/christophermreed.net\/aviation\/review-american-aircraft-development-of-the-second-world-war-research-experimentation-and-modification-1939-1945\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: American Aircraft Development of the Second World War: Research Experimentation and Modification 1939-1945"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script type=\"application\/ld+json\"><\/p>\n<p>{\n  \"@context\": \"https:\/\/schema.org\",\n  \"@graph\": [\n    {\n      \"@type\": \"ItemPage\",\n      \"@id\": \"https:\/\/christophermreed.net\/aviation\/american-aircraft-development-second-world-war-review\/#webpage\",\n      \"url\": \"https:\/\/christophermreed.net\/aviation\/american-aircraft-development-second-world-war-review\/\",\n      \"name\": \"Review: American Aircraft Development of the Second World War: Research Experimentation and Modification 1939-1945 \u2013 Christopher M. 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Reed.NET\",\n      \"description\": \"Historical research, military aviation reference, bibliographies, scale modeling guides, and fine art collections.\",\n      \"publisher\": {\n        \"@id\": \"https:\/\/christophermreed.net\/#person\"\n      },\n      \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n    }\n  ]\n}\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p>The culmination of a series detailing the development of US combat aircraft of World War II, this latest book by Bill Norton is a must-have for anyone interested in out of the ordinary aircraft. Rather than focusing on a single class of aircraft, this work chronicles how new technologies were pursued during the war &#8211; often, these were conducted against urgent operational needs, and there were many avenues that could not be placed into production so as not to disrupt the supply of &#8220;good enough&#8221;\u009d designs. Mr. Norton has provided a copious number of photos detailing the test aircraft that took these technologies into the air &#8211; there are plenty of candidates for making distinctive models here.<\/p>\n<p>And if you want unusual concepts such as a proposal for an R-1535-powered ducted fan high speed research aircraft, and a system for transferring drop tanks in flight between aircraft, among many others, ought to fit the bill.<\/p>\n<p>Listed below are some highlights from the various chapters that caught my eye &#8211; there are many more.<\/p>\n<p><b>Chapter 2: Aeronautical Achievements<\/b><br \/>\nB-18 carrying airfoil shape dorsally, and then as part of a wing glove.<br \/>\nP-61A towing a Mustang<br \/>\nP-51B with tall vertical tail and wing glove.<br \/>\nA-17 with massive wing gloves to support the C-74 program.<br \/>\nStinson L-1 boundary layer control testbed<br \/>\nPT-19 with subcale <a href=\"https:\/\/christophermreed.net\/aviation\/b-29-superfortress-walk-around\/\">B-29<\/a> wing and tail<\/p>\n<p><b>Chapter 3: Propulsion Challenges<\/b><br \/>\nTomahawk II R-1830 testbed<br \/>\nXA-19C with Twin Wasp<br \/>\nYA-19 with R-2800<br \/>\nLockheed Ventura with Constellation nacelles<br \/>\nXA-31B testbed for the XR-4360<br \/>\nDetails of the XB-38 and XB-39 programs, and the XB-44 prototype for the <a href=\"https:\/\/christophermreed.net\/aviation\/b-50-superfortress-walk-around\/\">B-50<\/a>.<br \/>\nB-23 Dragon with turbosupercharger installation.<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/christophermreed.net\/aviation\/f4u-corsair\/\">F4U<\/a> engine testbeds<\/p>\n<p><b>Chapter 4: Rocket Promise<\/b><br \/>\nDevelopment of JATO<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/christophermreed.net\/aviation\/p-51d-mustang\/\">P-51<\/a> with supplemental rocket engine.<\/p>\n<p><b>Chapter 5: Sonic Reach<\/b><br \/>\nWind tunnel model photos of a proposed ducted fan research aircraft for high speed flight<br \/>\nEarly consideration to use a rocket-boosted YP-80A for gathering transonic data.<br \/>\nIllustration of the Bell Bell MX-524\u00a0 &#8211; recognizable as an XS-1 ancestor design.<br \/>\nDrawing of an early D-558 concept as a tail-dragger with flush fuselage intakes<\/p>\n<p><b>Chapter 6: Undercarriage Variations<\/b><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/christophermreed.net\/aviation\/curtiss-p-40-references\/\">P-40<\/a> with balloon tires<br \/>\nA-20C &amp; A-20H with tracked landing gear<\/p>\n<p><b>Chapter 8: Piloting Diversions<\/b><br \/>\nMockup of a stepped nose configuration for the B-29<br \/>\nProne pilot testing<br \/>\nPressurization research<\/p>\n<p><b>Chapter 9: Mission Support<\/b><br \/>\nDitching experiment with a <a href=\"https:\/\/christophermreed.net\/aviation\/review-consolidated-b-24-liberator-production-line-to-frontline\/\">B-24<\/a><br \/>\nDeicing projects, including the XB-24F and XB-25E<br \/>\nAir to Sea Rescue, including the B-17H and B-29 Super Dumbo<br \/>\nAmbulance aircraft<br \/>\nAerial delivery<\/p>\n<p><b>Chapter 12: Miscellaneous Projects<\/b><br \/>\nTwo-seat training versions of fighters including photos of a Soviet P-40 trainer, and a P-40K with gear for taxi training of ground crew; TP-39 and TP-47 photos.<br \/>\nDetails of the development of the XB-40 and YB-41 gunships, and several photos of a YB-29 given extra armament to serve as a prototype formation escort.<br \/>\nFitting out the B-29 to carry nuclear weapons<br \/>\nPB4Y-2 equipped with fuselage-mounted loudspeakers.<\/p>\n<p><b>Chapter 13: Foreign Influence<\/b><br \/>\nEvaluation of aircraft from overseas<br \/>\nRecovery of an A6M from the Aleutians<br \/>\nAn in-depth review of the US reverse-engineering of the <a href=\"https:\/\/christophermreed.net\/aviation\/fi-103-v-1-missile\/\">V-1 &#8220;buzz bomb&#8221;<\/a> into the JB-2 cruise missile.<\/p>\n<p>This review is of the Kindle version of the book<\/p>\n<p>There is also a hardcover version.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The culmination of a series detailing the development of US combat aircraft of World War II, this latest book by Bill Norton is a must-have for anyone interested in out of the ordinary aircraft. Rather than focusing on a single class of aircraft, this work chronicles how new technologies were pursued during the war &#8211; [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-350","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christophermreed.net\/aviation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/christophermreed.net\/aviation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/christophermreed.net\/aviation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christophermreed.net\/aviation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christophermreed.net\/aviation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=350"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/christophermreed.net\/aviation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/350\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1284,"href":"https:\/\/christophermreed.net\/aviation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/350\/revisions\/1284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christophermreed.net\/aviation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}