How the XP-86 to XP-92 jet fighters were portrayed... in 1946!

[Stargazer]

While browsing through Andreas Parsch's excellent site (as I regularly do...) I came across the PDF files for the official USAAF's "Model Designation Army Aircraft" listings. The 1946 edition contains 3-view drawings of most aircraft in the AF's inventory at the time... but what really caught my eye was the page devoted to the (then-classified and still to be revealed) XP-86 to XP-92 projects. While some drawings obviously herald the shape of things to come, the XP-89, XP-90 and XP-92 projects seem to have little, if anything to do with what they turned out to be...

Has any of you seen these before as genuine designs by Northrop, Lockheed and Convair, pre-dating the actual versions, or were they just the workings of an undocumented Air Force illustrator's imaginings?

I attach the diagrams, which I cleaned up (I also added a blue background to make the silhouettes stand out better). Thanks to you all for your help!

 

[Antonio]

Has any of you seen these before as genuine designs by Northrop, Lockheed and Convair, pre-dating the actual versions, or were they just the workings of an undocumented Air Force illustrator's imaginings?

Everything's real, just early stages from that designs. Take a look at American Secret Projects by Tony Buttler: Chapter One

I came across the PDF files for the official USAAF's "Model Designation Army Aircraft" listings

would you please post the link?

Thanks in advance

 

[Stargazer]

Sure! Here goes:

http://www.designation-systems.net/usmilav/original-docs/index.html

Such a great resource... but what a shame there's only 1945 and 1946 available!

 

[OM]

...Anyone got links on the XP-91? ???

 

[Vahe Demirjian]

The XP-92 illustration was the first XP-92 design, before wind tunnel tests showed the swept-wing design aerodynamically unsound and the XP-92 was redesigned with a delta wing.