Curtiss-Wright XP-55
In 1939, the Army Air Corps was looking for improved and better-armed designs over their existing arsenal of warplanes. The service got several revolutionary, outside-the-box design entries. Perhaps the most interesting prototype is the XP-55 Ascender (also known as the “Ass-ender” due to it’s pusher engine). The XP-55 featured revolutionary swept wings, canards, and twin wing-mounted tails, and the plane’s designers had to invent a system to jettison the propeller from the aircraft so the pilot could bail out.
