Ryan XF2R-1 Dark Shark

1/48 scale
Kit No. 4816
Cost: $35.00
Decals: One version – U.S. Navy
Comments: Engraved panel lines, vacuform canopy, resin detail parts for cockpit, intakes and wheel wells and wheels

History

The Ryan “Dark Shark” was a further development of the FR-1 Fireball featuring a redesigned airframe and introducing turboprop power. An impressive developmental hybrid fighter design considered for service with both the United States Navy and United States Air Force shortly after World War II, like the Fireball it represented an attempt to mate a propeller-driven engine with a turbojet engine to achieve excellent performance during a time when turbojets lacked the necessary force and long term reliability to power fighter aircraft by themselves- particularly from the short decks of aircraft carriers.

However, advances in jet propulsion put an end to such hybrid designs, and the Dark Shark would go on to exist in only a single prototype – interest on the part of the USN and USAF waning when tempted by the power of dedicated jet-powered fighters for their new-breed squadrons. At this point in aviation history – the period encompassing the latter stages of World War II – early turbojets lacked power and were not terribly fuel efficient. While they offered some inherent benefits over most conventional piston-powered aircraft, they were relatively infant in their use of technology, warranting some governmental organizations to consider the option of pairing proven piston engine technology with turbojet engines to make up for the latter’s deficiencies.

Ryan Aeronautical Company had previously attempted a hybrid-powered aircraft in their FR Fireball for the United States Navy. The Fireball proved to be a short-lived fighter design that used both a piston and a turbojet engine to achieve a combined thrust output exceeding (for a brief period) that of other aircraft using solely one of the two installations.

For the most part, the Fireball was a conventional aircraft in layout save for the hybrid engine arrangement and sat atop a retractable powered tricycle landing gear arrangement. Power came from a General Electric J31-GE-3 turbojet engine mated to a Wright R-1820-72W Cyclone radial piston engine – each delivering 1,600lbf of thrust and 1,350 horsepower respectively. She was crewed by a pilot in a forward-set cockpit and some 66 examples were produced from 1944 into 1945 – the final year of World War II. However, the end of the war spelled the end of the need for the Fireball and production was ended – she formed just a single squadron in her short time in service with the United States Navy, and was decommissioned by the end of 1947.

The United States Navy then looked to another Ryan Aeronautical Company development, the improved XF2R “Dark Shark,” as a possible addition to its carrier-based inventory. Design-wise, the Dark Shark was sleeker than the Fireball and also fitted a hybrid engine arrangement, although the basic piston engine was replaced by a turboprop one. The cockpit was more centralized in the well-contoured fuselage with the four-bladed propeller engine at the front of the design and the turbojet engine buried within the aft portion of the fuselage. The empennage was conventional and the Dark Shark was also supported by a tricycle landing gear. The prototype first flew on November 1st, 1946 out of Edwards Air Force Base.

General Electric was responsible for the two powerplants and responded with their J31 series turbojet and T31 turboprop installations. The J31 was notable for it had also powered the Bell P-59 Airacomet – America’s first jet fighter – as well as the Ryan FR-1 Fireball and became the first jet engine to be mass produced in the United States though it originated from the British Whittle W.1 series. The propeller-minded T31 turboprop engine went on to power the abandoned Vultee XP-81 (of which only two prototypes were built) and never materialized into any serious production numbers (28 were built in all).

The J31 turbojet offered 1,600lbs of thrust in a pushing action while the T31 turboprop added 1,760 horsepower in pulling the airframe. When these powerplants were paired in the Dark Shark, they supplied the fighter with a top speed nearing 500 miles per hour, a service ceiling just under 40,000 feet and a rate of climb equal to 4,850 feet per minute. The engines were fed via air intake inlets found along the wing leading edges. Compared to the fabled North American P-51D Mustang of World War II, the Dark Shark exceeded her listed performance statistics of a 437 mile per hour top speed and 3,200 feet per minute rate-of-climb.

The Dark Shark would be armed with 4 x 12.7mm (.50 caliber) Browning M2 heavy machine guns. Machine guns did offer up high rates-of-fire and larger ammunition loads than those found in competing cannon systems. Beyond the machine gun battery, the Dark Shark carried no other weapons. While evaluations revealed the Dark Shark to be a sound aircraft design in most respects, advances in jet technology doomed any further development on the type. It did not significantly improve upon the performance numbers of the preceding Fireball, and the Dark Shark was abandoned after the lone prototype was built as the Navy turned to newer designs with more powerful, reliable turbojets such as the McDonnell F2H Banshee and Grumman F9F Panther.

The Kit

Czech Models’ Dark Shark is injection molded in grey plastic and consists of 57 plastic parts, 31 resin parts, and two vacuform canopies. The kit features engraved panel lines and cast resin parts for the cockpit floor, side instrument panels and seat, together with wing root intakes, as well as resin wheel well inserts for all landing gear. The four-bladed resin airscrew is complemented by individually mounted propeller blades (in plastic) and a separately mounted spinner.

The kit will definitely need a nose weight to keep it from sitting on its tail; the instructions recommend something on the order of 9 grams of weight. Holes will have to be drilled into the lower wing panels in order to allow the fitting of the under wing drop tanks. Although plastic wheels are provided, the resin wheels will offer superior detail. Other than drop tanks, no external stores are provided, but this kit is sufficiently detailed without them, and in any event the Dark Shark never entered service.

Markings

The kit includes two versions of decals, one for a generic XFR-1 Dark Shark, circa 1946, with national insignia and no other distinguishing markings. It is painted in overall Glossy Sea Blue. The second version if for a production F2R-1 Dark Shark assigned to VF-41, the “FIrebirds” — the same squadron in which Ryan’s FR-1 Fireball saw limited service from 1945 to 1947. This aircraft it painted in overall Glossy Sea Blue, but also has a white tail, and markings are provided for the yellow stripes of VF-41. All markings have a gloss sheen and are fully in register with realistic color.

Conclusion

This is a detailed kit that is a companion aircraft to the FR-1 Fireball, and together they form the two “bookends” of the U.S. Navy’s brief experimentation with hybrid fighters in the early years of the Jet Age immediately after World War II. Highly recommended.

Reference

www.militaryfactory.com