Ryan FR-1 Fireball
Ryan FR-1 Fireball
Description
Role	Fighter
Crew	One
First Flight	June 25, 1944
Entered Service	March 1945
Manufacturer	Ryan Aeronautical Company
Dimensions
Length	32 ft 4 in	12.19 m
Wingspan	40 ft 0 in	12.19 m
Height	13 ft 7¼ in	4.15 m
Wing area	275 ft²	25.55 m²
Weights
Empty	7,915 lb	3590 kg
Loaded	10,595 lb	4806 kg
Maximum takeoff	lb	kg
Powerplant
Engines	Wright R-1820-72W Cyclone radial piston engine General Electric J31 turbojet
Power	1,425 hp	kW
Thrust	1,600 lb	kN
Performance
Maximum speed	426 mph	686 km/h
Combat range	1,300 miles	1,658 km
Ferry range	miles	km
Service ceiling	43,100 ft	13,135 m
Rate of climb	ft/min	m/min
Wing loading	lb/ft²	kg/m²
Armament
Guns	4 × 0.50 in machine-guns
Bombs	2 × 1,000 lb bombs
Rockets	4 under wings

The Ryan FR Fireball was a composite propeller and jet powered aircraft designed for the United States Navy during World War II. They entered service before the end of the war but did not see combat. The FR-1 Fireball was the US Navy's first aircraft with jet propulsion.

Design began in 1943 to a proposal instigated by Admiral John S. McCain, Sr. for a composite-powered fighter; early jet engines had sluggish acceleration which was considered unsafe and unsuitable for aircraft carrier takeoff and landing. A composite design allowed for conventional piston-powered flight but gave a jet for higher speeds.

FR-1 Fireballs in formation with piston engines off

The first prototype flew on June 25, 1944 but it was lost in a crash in October that year. Investigation showed that the wing rivets were insufficiently strong, a problem cured by doubling the number of rivets, but not before the other two prototypes crashed in similar fashion.

Orders for 700 aircraft were placed, but only 66 were delivered before Japan's surrender. One squadron, VF-66 , was equipped with the aircraft before war's end, but they never saw combat.

The aircraft were withdrawn fairly soon after the war's end. With the rapid advance in technology, and the removal of the pressing need to get anything into combat quickly, the Navy decided to wait for better aircraft to be developed.

US Navy pilots considered Fireball to be a uniquely poorly chosen name, given its 'fiery accident' connotations.

The FR-1 Fireball was developed into the F2R Dark Shark, which replaced the piston engine with a turboprop, but this never entered service.

One FR-1 Fireball survives at the Planes of Fame Flying Museum , at Chino, California, and it is in the process of restoration to display condition.