This Day in Aviation History

February 2nd, 1944
First flight of the Republic XP-72.

The Republic XP-72 was an American prototype interceptor fighter developed as a progression of the P-47 Thunderbolt design. The XP-72 was designed around the Pratt & Whitney R-4360 28-cylinder air-cooled radial engine with a supercharger mounted behind the pilot and driven by an extension shaft from the engine. The armament consisted of six 0.5 in wing-mounted machine guns and underwing racks for two 1,000 lb bombs…..

Source:
Wikipedia, Republic XP-72: 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_XP-72

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