The Douglas XFD was a carrier-based biplane fighter aircraft designed for the United States Navy, and the first fighter to be built by the Douglas Aircraft Company. A victim of changing requirements, no production was undertaken.
The XFD was designed to the U.S. Navy's Bureau of Aeronautics (BuAer) Specification No. 311, requesting a carrier-based two-seater biplane fighter.[1] On June 30, 1932, the Navy ordered the XFD, Vought XF3U, and Curtiss XF12C for testing.[2]
The first naval fighter designed by Douglas Aircraft,[3] the XFD was constructed of metal, with a fabric outer covering. The crew sat in tandem in a single bay, enclosed by a long canopy. The aircraft had fixed conventional landing gear, and was designed to be armed with two 0.3inches machine guns, one fixed in the cowling and the other on a flexible mount for the observer. A 500lb bomb load could be carried.[4] Powered was supplied by a Pratt & Whitney R-1535 Twin Wasp Junior radial engine.[4]
The XFD-1 prototype first flew in January 1933;[2] it was delivered to the U.S. Navy for trials at Naval Air Station Anacostia in June 1933, within four days of the delivery of the Vought XF3U-1;[4] evaluations of the types were undertaken between June 18, 1933 and August 14, 1934.[2] While the XFD-1's performance was considered to be acceptable, the U.S. Navy's operational requirements were already changing to see the two-seat fighter concept falling out of favor, the scout bomber being considered more useful for the Navy's needs, and accordingly after the end of the XFD-1's flight trials no further orders were placed for the type.[4]