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- Nose view
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- Left side
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- XB-43 nose view
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- Jetmaster in flight
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- Take off
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- XB-43
An American experimental bomber aircraft built at the Douglas plant, the United States Army Air Forces’ first jet-powered bomber. The Jetmaster was based on another experimental bomber, the Douglas XB-42 Mixmaster, and just like it did not enter serial production. Although initial design work on the XB-43 began as early as late 1944, it did not make its first flight until May 17, 1946, and the first U.S. serial jet bomber was the North American B-45 Tornado.
The XB-43 had twin General Electric J35-GE turbojet engines delivering 3,750 lbf (16.7 kN) of thrust each to produce a top speed of 515 mph (829 km/h). The engines were mounted one above the other in side the fuse lage with intakes at the shoulders.