Originally designated XP-47
Information from Joe Baugher's web site
The original design proposed a lightweight high-altitude interceptor but was too lightly armed, redesigned and completed as the XP-47B prototype fighter-bomber. First flight May 6, 1941; exhaust fumes entered the cockpit after take-off but the flight continued for twenty minutes until it made a normal landing on the paved runway at Mitchel Field, NY. Flying Branch, Materiel Division, Wright Field, Dayton, OH but remained at Farmingdale; used for speed tests August 1941. Crashed into Long Island Sound Aug 8, 1942, pilot bailed out successfully. The crash was kept secret as the aircraft was a new design.
Aeroplane Photo Supply No. 529
Aeroplane Photo Supply No. 206
