Fireball Performance
As a composite fighter design, the Ryan Fireball maintained some unique performance figures from her radial and turbojet engines. The FR-1 production model fielded a Wright R-1820-72W Cyclone radial piston engine delivering 1,350 horsepower to a three-bladed propeller coupled with the General Electric J31-GE-3 turbojet engine of 1,600lbf of thrust. This combined power allowed for a maximum speed of 426 miles per hour (limited to 275 miles per hour when running on just the radial engine alone). Cruise speed was generally in the vicinity of 150 miles per hour and range was an impressive 1,300 miles. The Fireball's listed service ceiling was equally impressive at 43,100 feet and the aircraft could climb through 80 feet per second.
Fireball Armament
Armament for the Fireball was quite modest given the lessons learned through air-to-air combat in World War 2. While the successful US Navy fighters mounted no less than 6 x 0.50 caliber heavy machine guns and other nations utilized cannons of various calibers, the Fireball was limited to just 4 x 0.50 caliber M2 Browning air-cooled heavy machine guns with each gun afforded 300 rounds of ammunition. Her offensive punch was furthered, however, by provision for 2 x 1,000lb bombs held underwing. This allowed the Fireball the capability to attack ground targets with some authority. Additionally, the bombs could be replaced by 8 x 5-inch (127mm) unguided air-to-surface, high-explosive rockets on individual launch racks under each wing (four rockets to a wing underside).
Limited Reach
The Fireball was assigned to just one US Navy flight squadron during her operational tenure. This became the "Firebirds" squadron of the VF-66. The VF-66 existed from May of 1945 into October of 1945 before becoming the VF-41. The VF-41 maintained a fleet presence from October of 1945 to the middle of 1947 before being redesignated as the VF-1E in November of that year. Ultimately, the "Firebirds" became the VRF-32.
The Writing on the Wall
The end of World War 2 essentially meant the end of "fancy-free" spending habits of the American war machine. The yearly billions upon billions spent on defense now dwindled to maintain a barely active military force as people turned their attentions to peace and rebuilding of lives and countries. Many-a-military-product suffered short-lived lives as a result and the unique Fireball proved no exception. Couple this with the fact that turbojet technology was gaining more and more traction and all-jet dedicated fighters quickly became the hot-selling product to the American military and one begins to understand such decisions. It was this curtailing of military finances that would ultimately spell near-doom for the free world in the early years of the upcoming Korean War.
The First Jet Carrier Landing Anywhere...is Unintentional
On November 6th, 1945, a Fireball was forced to land on the deck of the escort carrier USS Wake Island. Apparently, the radial piston engine of the aircraft had failed on the pilot forcing him to activate the jet powerplant. This allowed the pilot to land the aircraft safely on the USS Wake Island - in effect becoming the first aircraft anywhere to land on a naval vessel under jet power. The Fireball in question nearly missed her mark, however, and only caught the final arrestor wire before being stopped by the crash barrier.
The Pinnacle After Just a Short Two Years
By this time, the Fireball had more-or-less reached its pinnacle. There was no more war to fight and the concept proved more work than reward. The US Navy became more and more interested in all-jet products and the Fireball quickly took a backseat. In 1947, the Ryan Fireball was officially withdrawn from operational service - a quick end to be sure, serving the USN just a short two years.
Furthering the Fireball
In her entire production run spanning from 1944 to 1945, only 66 total examples were ultimately delivered. There were further attempts to make for a more promising system and included the XFR-2 prototype mounting a Wright R-1820-74W series piston engine. The FR-3 would have been a production form fitting the General Electric I-20 series turbojet engine. The XFR-4 was another prototype proposal though this one mounting a Westinghouse J34 series turbojet engine - ultimately proving the fastest of all the Fireball designs by some 100 miles per hour. The XF2R-1 "Dark Shark" prototype was something of a vast departure from the base Fireball line and attempted to mate a General Electric XT31-GE-2 turboprop engine with the turbojet engine for increased performance specifications. However, only one prototype was ultimately produced but did go on to set a new world altitude record concerning turboprop-powered aircraft, the magic number being 39,160 feet on May 2nd, 1947. The Dark Shark was easily identified from the base Fireball by her pointed spinner and large, four-bladed propeller system.
The Fireball Today
It is believed that only a single Ryan Fireball airframe exists anywhere in the world. This single example was procured by the Planes of Flame Air Museum at Chino, California.
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