In 1930, Lt. John Gillon wrote an article for the U.S. Naval Proceedings entitled “Naval Patrol and Bombing Flying Boats.” What is interesting is that this article was published between the time the Navy accepted the Consolidated XPY-1 design and had sent the contract to Martin for construction of them as the P3M-1 flying boats.

In the article Gillon noted that wood for hull construction had become scarce and flying boat design had now moved to all metal hulls, which decreased maintenance and lightened the aircraft substantially. Moreover, the duralumin could be molded into complex shapes.

He submitted that the stall speed should be no more than 50 mph to permit landing in rough water, it should have maximum ceiling of no less than 16,000 feet, and the aircraft should be able to stay in the air on one engine with a moderate load. He urged that the fuel tanks be built to conform to the hull, thus saving space, and that the gravity tank should be filled by a hand pump with a capacity larger than the fuel consumption of both engines. The engines should be air-cooled as water-cooled engines required more maintenance.

Habitability was another concern and Gillon noted, “Fatigue is caused largely by exposure to wind and weather and by insufficiently silenced engines (assuming the flying boat has good inherent stability). Another contributing factor may be a badly designed instrument board, the dials of which are poorly arranged or obscured by the wheel control. The lighting system is often faulty.” The Commodore would have an enclosed flight deck.

Except for the stall speed, all the structural suggestions by Gillon were already being put into the Consolidated Model 16 Commodore. In many ways, except for a few changes, the Commodore was set to be the next Navy flying boat.

The disappointment with the Martin P3M-2 led the Bureau of Aeronautics to give Consolidated a development contract for the XP2Y-1 on May 26, 1931. The main difference with the Commodore was the addition of the sesquiplane wing to the upper hull which added 404 sq. ft. of wing surface. The addition decreased wing loading and added space for weapons and fuel. More importantly, it added extra lift. The hull design remained the same, except for returning to the rounded top. The hull was duralumin and divided into watertight compartments. As with the Commodore, the flight deck was enclosed, but instead of having the aileron/elevator control that could be swung between the pilot or copilot, the P2Y-1 had dual controls. The P2Y-1 retained the high twin rudder configuration of the XPY-1 and Commodore. The main wing, sesquiplane, and tail surfaces were duralumin with a fabric covering.

The two (or three) 450-hp Pratt and Whitney R-1340-38 Wasp 9-cylinder air-cooled radial engines were replaced with two 750-hp Wright R-1820-90 Cyclone 9-cylinder air-cooled radial engines, and the two-blade propellers were changed the ones with three-blades. The engines were also enclosed with ring cowlings. This would give the XP2Y-1 a maximum speed of 138 mph and a cruising speed of 117 mph. The only suggestion by Lt. Gillon that was not incorporated was the stall speed, which was still 60 mph. The engines were mounted in nacelles below the upper wing. As mentioned previously, a third engine was added on struts above the top wing on the XPY-1 and had eventually been rejected as too much trouble. The same configuration would be tried with the XP2Y-1 on its first flight on March 26, 1932 (Below). The other XP2Y-1’s were disassembled and sent by rail to Anacostia. These test aircraft all had the third engine installed, but after two months of testing the third engine was removed and the two-engine configuration became the standard.

The original Consolidated Aircraft Company was located at Buffalo, New York. This caused some problems with the first flights of the XP2Y-1. The first test flight was cut short due to ice on the Niagara River. A second attempt on April 14, 1932, to fly to Anacostia Naval Air Station outside of Washington D.C. was also turned back due to bad weather. It wasn’t until April 17th that the weather cleared sufficiently to allow a completed flight and as noted, the others were sent disassembled by rail. The continuing weather problems at Buffalo would eventually induce the company to move to San Diego, California in September 1935.