In December 1942, nine US aircraft manufacturers received
a Request for Proposals from the Bureau of Aeronautics
for a single-seat shipboard fighter combining
piston engine and turbojet, the former to be the main
power source and the latter to provide boost in climb
and combat. The Ryan Model 28, designed by Benjamin
T Salmon and William T Immenschuh, was selected as
winning contender by the Bureau and three prototypes
were ordered on 11 February 1943 as XFR-1s. A low-wing, cantilever monoplane of classic design, the
XFR-1 was the first carrier aircraft designed from the
outset to use a laminar-flow aerofoil and the first US
Navy aircraft to have an entirely flush-riveted exterior
and metal-skinned movable control surfaces. Power
was provided by a 1,350hp Wright R-1820-72W Cyclone
nine-cylinder air-cooled radial and, in the rear fuselage,
a 726kg General Electric I-16 (later redesignated
J31) turbojet. Proposed armament consisted
of four 12.7mm machine guns with provision
for a 454kg bomb under port inboard wing
panel. Other features were hydraulically-folding outer
wings and a tricycle undercarriage. A contract for 100
production FR-1s was placed on 2 December 1943, the
first XFR-1 flying seven months later, on 25 June 1944,
with only the piston engine installed. The turbojet was
added a few days later. Initial flight tests led to the
major redesign and enlargement of the vertical tail and
lowering of the horizontal tail. On 31 January 1945, by
which time a number of series FR-1s had been completed
and were under test, a contract was placed for
600 FR-2s which were to differ in having the R-1820-
74W engine of 1,500hp with water injection. In the
event, neither the FR-2 nor the XFR-3 was to be built,
the latter being intended to mate the 907kg General Electric I-20 turbojet with the -74W
piston engine. The XFR-4, on the other hand, entered
flight test in November 1944. Utilising the 19th FR-1 production
airframe, this replaced the J31-GE-3 turbojet
with a 1542kg Westinghouse J34-WE-22,
discarded the wing root intakes of the FR-1 in favour of
flush inlets in the sides of the forward fuselage, and had
the aft fuselage extended by 20cm. It was found,
however, that the thrust of the J34 was too great to permit
efficient use of both engines and the XFR-4 programme
was discontinued accordingly.
Deliveries of
the FR-1 to the US Navy began in March 1945, the Fireballs
equipping one squadron (VF-66) and completing
carrier qualification in May (aboard the USS Ranger).
After VJ-Day, the 34 FR-1s remaining to be delivered
were cancelled, together with all 600 FR-2s. On 18
October 1945, VF-66 was de-commissioned and its
FR-1s transferred to VF-41 (redesignated VF-1E on 15
November 1946) which continued to fly them until mid-
July 1947. Only 17 of the 66 FR-1s built saw squadron
usage, the remainder being assigned for various test programmes.
Stationed at Quonset Point C A S U late im '45 we had a near miss when the landing gear did"nt deploy due to a hydraulic system failure when the Prop was shut down. The accumulator had a leak, lost pressure when the pump was down during this flight test. They made some mods after.
IN 1947 IS WAS ORDERED TO NATTC MEMPHIS TENN FOR INSTRUCTOR DUTY. I WAS FORTUNATE IN GETTING IN ON THE GROUND FLOOR OF THE JET AGE. WE HAD FIVE FR-1 FIREBALLS AND SIX J-31 (I-16) ENGINES THAT WE USED FOR INSTRUCTIONS. THE ENGINES ONLY DEVELOPED 1600 LBS OF THRUST AND HAD A REVERSE FLOW CENTRIFUGAL COMPRESSOR. NOT MUCH BY LATER STANDARDS BUT IT WAS A START OF A PROGRAM THAT HAS LED US TO TODAYS AIRCRAFT AND ENGINES. I CAN RECALL WHEN STARTING THE JET ENGINE WE REALLY HAD TO BE CAREFUL OF THE STARTING TURBINE TEMPERATURE. I SPENT 30 YEARS IN NAVAL AVIATION AND FONDLY RECALL THOSE YEARS I TAUGHT FUTURE NAVY AIRCRAFT MECHANICS.
I am looking up info on this plane for a friend of mine. His father flew one out of california in the late 40's. His name was Elmer J. Lintner. If anyone knows of or has any info about this plane, it would be interesting to hear about it. Thanks
I also saw the Fireball at Norfolk in 1945. It was not generally known to the personell at the airfield and I only saw it on the ground, not flying.Hav a friend, an AP1 who was also familiar with it.
When I went to "AD-A" School at NAS Memphis in 1950, there was an FR-1 at the school among the F6Fs, F4Us, TBMs, etc. It received a lot of interest as this was the begining of the jet age! I was fortunate to have experience with both recip and jet engines, although, I spent most of my Naval career flying. There was also a Jumo 004 jet engine from an ME-262 at the school.
Hi guys, I like the look of the Fireball but just cant see the point at all! Top speed was not anything special by 1945, surely its an inferior aircraft to the Bearcat?
I WAS WITH CASU-21 AT NAS NORFOLK IN 1945 OR SO AND SAW THIS PLANE ON FLOATS WITH ADDITIONAL WHEELS IN A HANGER AT OSCEANNA..MY CO ASKED IF I WANTED TO QUALIFY IN THIS ---I AGREED,BUT HAD ANOTHER AIRCRAFFT DELIVERY TO DO ,AND ON MY RETURN THE RYAN WAS GONE.WHY AMFIB GEAR ??
It wasn't a bad idea. The US Navy was taking heavy losses to kamikazes, and this was the plane to stop them. An old documentary claimed that Japan had 4,000 planes scattered around the country for use as kamikazes when the American invasion came.
Atom bombs ended the war unexpectedly, and the Navy decided to wait until a full jet-powered carrier plane could be designed.
On the subject of the prop, It was originally put in the aircraft as an 'Insurance policy', not only for landing said craft, but also in case the jet gave out unexpectedly. That said, It is worth noting that at least ONE Ryan FR-1 fireball landed on the carrier U.S.S Wake island using the jet, following the PROPELLERS failure. I don't know about you, but I find that extremely humorous
