Convair XB-46

The Convair XB-46 was a single experimental medium jet bomber developed in the mid-1940s that never entered production or service. It was Convair entry in the class of 1945 medium-bomber competition, alongside the North American XB-45 and Martin XB-48, all of which saw little use once the Boeing XB-47 succeeded. The aircraft had a long, streamlined, torpedo-shaped fuselage, long narrow straight shoulder-mounted wings, and four Chevrolet-built J35 axial-flow turbojets paired in a nacelle under each wing. Pilots sat in tandem under a teardrop canopy and the bombardier sat in a transparent nose. Its first flight was on 2 April 1947, and about five months of testing followed. The programme was cancelled in August 1947, before testing finished, because the design was already obsolete.