Northrop N-63 Convoy Fighter
By Matt Bittner
Author: Jared Zichek
Publisher: Retro Mechanix
ISBN #: 978-0-9968754-1-7
Binding: Softcover
Pages: 44
Jared Zichek has nicely outlined all of the Convoy Fighter proposals that weren't contracted. His first was on the Goodyear GA-28 followed by a book on the Martin Model 262. All books in this series provide an excellently detailed analysis of each proposal, using period documents where possible and ending with why that particular proposal probably wasn't selected. There were five companies that put in bids for the Convoy Fighter and the only two that were given contracts for prototypes were Convair (for their Pogo) and Lockheed (for their Salmon).
Northrop's proposal for the Convoy Fighter was what it was supposed to be. Unlike the Martin proposal Northrop's was just like the other three: a tail-sitter that needed no extra support for landing and taking off. There was a time Northrop wanted to design a ¾ mockup prototype – the N-63A – but in the end decided just to place the bid for the N-63, in essence to save money. Unfortunately money was one of the reasons why Northrop might not have won the bid as they were the most expensive of the five. The other aspect of why Northrop could have lost was due to weight – it appears all but the winning designs came in under-weight. BuAer's estimations for all Convoy Fighters came in over what each manufacturer stated.
Like the other Convoy Fighter books Retro Mechanix put a lot of time and effort into research for the book, and if you have any curiosity about these aircraft then you'll want to track down this entire series.
I definitely give thanks to Retro Mechanix for the review book. Fascinating!