Hall Aluminum Aircraft Corporation XPTBH-2

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2437-XPTBH-2-9721-Right-Front-View-19370125 

Hall Aluminum Aircraft Corporation answered the US Navy request for a new scout  and  torpedo bomber in 1934 with the XPTBH-2. The twin engined, twin float shoulder mounted wing monoplane that they delivered was a sleek and interesting design.
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 The aircraft was powered by two Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp radial engines. It featured a tubular wing spar, aluminum floats and wing leading edges.
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A single Mark 13 torpedo could be carried by the XPTBH-2 or 2,000 lbs of bombs. 



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Defensive armament was a nose mounted gun turret with a .30 caliber machine gun and guns firing from top and bottom potions in the rear of the aircraft.


No production order was forthcoming for the design despite good handling characteristics in the air and on the water. The single prototype first flew in February 1937. After trials and not winning a contract the sole XPTBH-2 was delivered to the Newport Rhode Island.
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 The XPTBH-2 was destroyed in the Great New England hurricane of 1938 in which over 600 people died that struck Long Island, NY and eventually Newport Rhode Island where the aircraft was supporting torpedo testing at the US Naval Torpedo Station. 
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Photos NARA RG72AC-73A

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