Grumman XF5F Skyrocket

The Grumman XF5F Skyrocket was a prototype twin-engined shipboard fighter interceptor that the United States Navy ordered from Grumman on 30 June 1938 as the single model G-34. It had an unusual layout, with a short fuselage whose nose did not extend ahead of the wing, a twin tail, and two 1,200 horsepower Wright R-1820 radial engines driving propellers that rotated in opposite directions to cancel torque, promising high speed and an outstanding rate of climb. Provisions were included for two 20 mm cannon. It first flew on 1 April 1940 and was tested against several contemporary fighters in 1941, but the Navy settled on the Wildcat for mass production, and the prototype was struck off after a belly landing on 11 December 1944.