An experimental recon aircraft born out of the need for a fast high speed and altitude to operate overbthe Japanese home islands, it was designed to hold a powerful camera and fly in any conditions , it also had a whole film development area within the aircraft, Republics XF-12 was a simple tube design with 4 powerful radial engines to get it up to the desired speed of 470mph, and the desired altitude of 40,000 ft and the desired range of 4,000 miles, but the XF-12 only flew after the war and with the main threat defeated the XF-12 fell out of interest, but the aircraft did make its histortic flight from California to New York with its camera firing the whole way creating a massive photo which is on display today (trim for landing gear)