Douglas XP3D

The Douglas XP3D was a prototype American patrol flying boat of the 1930s, a twin-engined high-winged monoplane produced by the Douglas Aircraft Company to equip the Navy patrol squadrons. In 1933 the Navy ordered single prototypes from Douglas and Consolidated to replace the Consolidated P2Y and Martin P3M. The Douglas XP3D-1 first flew on 6 February 1935 and was delivered to NAS San Diego in March 1935. Both it and Consolidated P3Y passed the performance tests with very similar results, but the rival Consolidated design, which became the PBY, was preferred because of its lower price. Douglas rebuilt the prototype with a raised wing, engines on the leading edge, retractable floats and a nose turret, and the rebuilt XP3D-2 was used as a VIP aircraft until destroyed in a crash at Acapulco Bay, Mexico, on 8 February 1937.