Historically, some of the most compelling aircraft prototypes have served as launching pads for new and emerging technologies. From clean-sheet engine designs to new aerodynamic concepts to unusual airframe layouts, X-planes from all eras were smorgasbords of cutting-edge engineering. And in the early 1940s, McDonnell combined a multitude of new ideas into its XP-67 in the hopes its performance would eclipse existing interceptors.
A safe, conservative method of introducing a new aircraft design might be to incorporate only a few completely new and unproven concepts at a time. This philosophy enables engineers to isolate the concepts and evaluate them for more widespread use. But in the case of the unique McDonnell XP-67, nicknamed the “Moonbat,” it seems airframe and powerplant engineers alike were given carte blanche to reimagine every component and integrate all the resulting ideas into a single aircraft.
