Design of the FR-1 began in 1943 to a proposal instigated by Admiral John S. McCain Sr. for a mixed-powered fighter because early jet engines had sluggish acceleration that was considered unsafe and unsuitable for carrier operations.

The cockpit was positioned just forward of the leading edge of the wing and the pilot was provided with a bubble canopy which gave him excellent visibility.

They were mounted in the center section of the wing, immediately outboard of the air intakes for the jet engine.

The second prototype crashed on 25 March 1945 when the pilot failed to recover from a dive from 35,000 feet (10,670 m), probably also due to compressibility effects.

[5] Operational testing by the Naval Air Test Center at Naval Air Station Patuxent River that included carrier acceptability tests revealed additional problems: The piston engine tended to overheat until electrically operated cowl flaps were installed, the catapult hooks had to be moved, and the nosewheel oleo shock strut had to be lengthened by 3 inches (76 mm).

The Fireball's fuselage was lengthened by 8 inches (203 mm) to accommodate the larger engine and the leading edge extension of the wing root that housed the air intakes was also removed.

[7] This was the final variant; the piston engine was replaced with a General Electric XT31-GE-2 turboprop, but only one prototype was built.

On 1 May, three of the squadron's aircraft were craned aboard the carrier Ranger to attempt to qualify seven pilots, but two of the fighters were damaged while landing.

[12] The squadron qualified on the escort carrier Bairoko in March 1946, but nose gear problems persisted and cut the cruise short.

Ryan installed a steel fork for the nosewheel, but inspections also revealed evidence of partial wing failures so the aircraft was limited to maneuvers not to exceed 5 Gs.

A few months later, the squadron commander was performing a barrel roll when his wing broke off and he struck another Fireball, killing both pilots.

Subsequent inspections of the squadron's aircraft showed signs of structural failure and all the Fireballs were withdrawn by 1 August 1947.

Deployed first to the NASA Ames Research Center, the aircraft served as an instructional airframe at a technical school before being acquired by the Planes of Fame Air Museum at Chino, California from a technical school located in San Luis Obispo, California in the 1960s.

[23] Data from United States Navy Aircraft since 1911[19] and Ryan FR-1 Fireball and XF2R-1 Darkshark[24]General characteristics Performance Armament