problem, the nose elevator size was increased and the aileron up-trim was interconnected with the flaps so it operated after the flaps were lowered. November 1943, test pilot Harvey Gray, flying the first XP-55 (S/N 42-78845), was testing the aircraft's stall performance at altitude. Suddenly, the XP-55 inverted into an uncontrolled descent. The pilot was unable to right the airplane, and it fell out of control for before Gray was able to parachute to safety. The aircraft was destroyed. The second XP-55 (S/N 42-78846) was similar to the first, but with a slightly larger nose-elevator, modified elevator-tab systems, and a change from balance tabs to spring tabs on the ailerons. It flew for the first time on 9 January 1944. All flight tests were restricted so the stall-zone was avoided. The third XP-55 (S/N 42-78847) flew for the first time on 25 April 1944. It was fitted with four machine guns, and incorporated some of the lessons from the loss of the first XP-55. Engineers discovered the aircraft's stall characteristics could be improved by the addition of four-foot wingtip extensions, and by increasing the limits of the nose elevator travel. Between 16 September and 2 October 1944, the second XP-55 (42-78846), modified to the standards as the third aircraft, underwent official USAAF flight trials. The performance of the XP-55 was inferior to conventional fighter aircraft. Sealing its fate, by 1944, jet-powered fighters were in development; that terminated development of the XP-55. The third prototype XP-55 (s/n 42-78847) was lost on 27 May 1945 during the closing day of the Seventh War Bond Air Show at the Army Air Forces Fair at Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio. After a low pass in formation with a Lockheed P-38 Lightning and a North American P-51 Mustang on each wing, its pilot, William C. Glasgow, attempted a slow roll, but lost altitude and crashed, sending flaming debris into occupied civilian ground vehicles on a highway near the airfield. The crash killed Glasgow and four civilians on the ground. Aircraft disposition 42-78845: crashed during vertical dive on Nov 15, 1943. Pilot bailed out. 42-78846: on display at the Air Zoo in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It is on long-term loan from the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. 42-78847: crashed during air show at Wright Field, Ohio on May 27, 1945. Pilot killed. Specifications (XP-55) See also References Citations Bibliography McIntyre, Violet. Niagara Gazette,