The Hughes XF-11 is in my opinion one of the prettiest propeller airplanes ever built! It resembles a sleeker P-38 which is definitively in the top 5 for cool propeller airplanes.
The XF-11 was a prototype military reconnaissance aircraft, designed and flown by Howard Hughes for the United States Army Air Force (no independent Air Force yet back then). The XF-11 suffered a crash that nearly killed Hughes when one of its counter rotating propellers suddenly reversed thrust during a test flight.
The second prototype was fitted with conventional propellers and tested. However, it was found to be hard to control at slower speeds and the build costs was very high so the program was cancelled.
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