The United States Army Air Corps wrote specs for a two seat fighter, getting a competition held in April, 1929. As per Air Corps specification 1639A, the proposal of the new Berliner/Joyce Aircraft Corp. won out over its competitors, Boeing, Curtiss and Vought. The fighter, officially designated the XP-16, was one of three products of a young company that had come into being in 1928. Two seat fighter concept as envisioned by Air Corps planners required an aft facing gunner.Completed in October 1929, the one and only XP 16 was delivered in October 1930. A supercharged Curtiss V-1570A Conqueror gave it a top speed of 186mph at 5000 feet, and 183 mph at 10,000 ft. The prototype XP-16 was of fabric-covered metal construction with an upper wing of gull configuration. Armament comprised two fixed forward-firing 7.62mm machine guns and a third weapon of similar calibre on a flexible mounting in the rear cockpit. Five 11kg or two 55kg bombs could be carried.Two contracts were issued for a total of 25 service test aircraft as YlP-16s, these being essentially similar to the prototype apart from having the unsupercharged V-1570-25 Conqueror which was also rated at 600hp. The YlP-16s were delivered in 1932 and were later redesignated as PB-1s (pursuit-biplace). These proved to possess insufficient manoeuvrability to oppose single-seat fighters, offered extremely poor visibility for landing and displayed a tendency to nose over. They were withdrawn from USAAC service on 31 January 1934.
Prototype XP-16
Engine: Curtiss V-1570A Conqueror 12-cylinder liquid-cooled supercharged, 600hp
P-16
Crew: 2
Engine: 1 x 600hp Ñurtiss V-1570-25 Conqueror
Take-off weight: 1813 kg / 3997 lb
Empty weight: 1271 kg / 2802 lb
Wingspan: 10.36 m / 34 ft 0 in
Length: 8.59 m / 28 ft 2 in
Height: 2.74 m / 9 ft 0 in
Wing area: 25.92 sq.m / 279.00 sq ft
Max. speed: 282 km/h / 175 mph
Cruise speed: 243 km/h / 151 mph
Ceiling: 6585 m / 21600 ft
Rate of climb: 654 m/min / 2150 ft/min
Range: 1046 km / 650 miles
Armament: 3 x 7.62mm
All Aero 