(Image credit: Vintage Aviation News)
During the 1920s, a company called Eberhart Aeroplane and Motor Company developed a single-seat biplane fighter aircraft for the US Navy, designated Eberhart XFG. Eberhart Steel Products Company was an American manufacturer of aircraft parts. It started in 1918 in Buffalo, New York. In 1922, Eberhart received a contract to rebuild 50 Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5A aircraft, now named the Eberhart S.E.5E. Eberhart also upgraded the French-built SPAD S.XIII, replacing the engine with an American-built Wright-Hispano E. In 1925, Eberhart Aeroplane and Motor Company was formed as a subsidiary of Eberhart Steel, and the only aircraft produced by the company was the Eberhart XFG.
Design of Eberhart XFG
The Eberhart Aeroplane and Motor Company produced its first native airplane, the Eberhart XFG, in 1927. The plane was designed as a shipboard fighter for the US Navy. It was made from welded steel tubes and dural (a type of metal) with a fabric covering. One unique feature was the wing design, which included sweepback on the upper wing and forward sweep on the lower wing. The aircraft was 27.3 feet long and 9.10 feet high, with a wingspan of 32 feet and a wing area of 241 square feet. The empty weight was 2,145 pounds, and the gross weight was 2,938 pounds. The aircraft was powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-1340-C Wasp nine-cylinder air-cooled radial engine, producing 425 horsepower. It was envisioned to fly at a maximum speed of 155 mph.
The Cancellation
The United States Navy tested the sole prototype of the Eberhart XFG in late 1927. After testing, it was returned to Eberhart, where it was rebuilt as the XF2G. The new version was powered by an updated Pratt & Whitney R-1340-D engine, producing 400 horsepower. The XF2G prototype was sent back to the Navy for testing in January 1928 at Anacostia. However, in March 1928, the aircraft crashed during trials and was destroyed. No further production took place after this incident, and the company returned its focus to making metal parts for aircraft produced by other manufacturers. In the Grounded Dreams series, the Eberhart XFG was an experimental aircraft that could not meet the kind of performance it was made for. Read more Grounded Dreams articles HERE.
