Consolidated P-30 Country: USA Type: Fighter Manufacturer: Consolidated Aircraft Service: 1934 - 1939 First Flight: December 1932 Production: 60

The Consolidated P-30 (PB-2) was a 1930s United States two-seat fighter aircraft. An attack version called the A-11 was also built, along with two Y1P-25 prototypes and YP-27, Y1P-28, and XP-33 proposals. The P-30 is significant for being the first fighter in United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) service to have retractable landing gear, an enclosed and heated cockpit for the pilot, and an exhaust-driven turbosupercharger for altitude operation.

The P-30 had its origins in the canceled Detroit-Lockheed YP-24/A-9. The new aircraft differed from the YP-24 in being somewhat larger and having an all-metal wing and a turbosupercharged engine. The Y1P-25 and its sister attack version, the Y1A-11 armed with four forward-firing machine guns and racks for 400 lb (182 kg) of bombs, were ready for testing in December 1932. Although both prototypes were lost in crashes a week apart in January 1933, USAAC was pleased enough to order production of four P-30 fighters and four A-11 attack aircraft. Production versions differed from prototypes in having more powerful engines and revised landing gear and cockpit canopies.

While generally trouble-free, the PB-2A was slow and heavy, and by 1939 all had been replaced in frontline service by Seversky P-35 and Curtiss P-36 Hawk aircraft. The A-11 attack version failed to win a production order beyond the original four aircraft in spite of good performance because USAAC wanted more durable radial engines for its attack aircraft.

General characteristics