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Ray Wagner Collection Image

from SDASM Archives

• Veedubber79 said:

  Worried about the potential impact of an aluminum shortage, Bell was tasked to explore a lightweight fighter a/c made of alternative materials design using mostly wood. How this was going to help when hundreds of thousands of other aircraft were using masses of aluminum is another question, but the second XP-77 prototype (the 1st was XP-77-BE 43-34915) did manage to fly, under-performed on all of its design goals, and crashed after getting into an inverted spin during fuel consumption testing @ Eglin Field on 2 Oct 44 (pilot escaped via parachute).