A-38 Grizzly

[GregP]

Anyone know what happened to the two Beech A-38 Grizzly's?

They had performance and firepower in abundance, but used the R-3350 which was earmarked for the B-29, so they were never ordered. If not for the engine, they WOULD HAVE BEEN ordered with thei performance and hitting power.

So, I ask these questions:

1) What happened to the two prototypes?
2) Why were they never redesigned for the R-4360 or some other suitable and available powerplant? British engines would have been better than no Grizzly, and there were some good ones available.

The info I have doesn't state why they weren't pursued when their performance was so superior to anything else flying at the time in the intended role.

Anyone work at Raytheon-Beechcraft? Any records? Or "local knowledge?"

[tenmmike]

greg that plane was not pursued because ..1 the war was winding down ( it was 1945 when the prototype testing was complete ) 2.it was obvious that the day of the piston engine was nearly over ..... 3 the need to start reducing spending (many contracts were begining to be cancelled even though we were still planing on invaiding japan).. .4 the few engines that did not go to the b-29 went to the Douglas BT2D-1 which eventualy turned into the skyraider ( was dauntlessII)and the martin "mauler" project which looks alot like the skyraider(149 maulers made) the mauler then lost out to the skyraider and we all know its great history ..OF THE 2 PROTOTYPES all i can find is "1 was scrapped in the "40's" the other was suposed to go to the air force musem but disapeared somehow never to be seen again .....now thats a poor answer i know but thats all i can find......hope others can help more

[GregP]

Thanks!

It's more than I had.