Original photo caption:

From Convair, a Division of General Dynamics Corporation, Fort Worth, Texas, USA.

The Convair XP-81 long-range jet escort fighter was the first plane ever flown with a gas turbine engine designed to drive a propeller. Powered by a gas turbine engine in the nose and jet engine in the tail, the trim fighter will fly at a speed of more than 500 mph (805 kmh). Because the two engines operate independently, the powerful fighter can fly on either one or both. Their combined horsepower is virtually the same as that produced by all four engines on a WW II heavy bomber. Gross weight of the single-seat fighter is 19,500 lb (8845 kg). It has a wingspan of 50 ft 6 in (15,39 m), length of 44 ft 8 in (13,61 m) and a height of 13 ft 6 in (4,11 m).

(December 13, 1956)