# American bombers and transport aircrafts



## gekho (Aug 29, 2010)

World War II was not won by bombers alone, but the use of the heavy, strategic bomber was essential to victory both in Europe and in the Pacific Theaters. The Allied powers, led and principally supplied by the United States, pounded from the air every means of production and transport in the Axis held territories. In addition, fleets of bombers hunted submarines, supported offensives, and thwarted enemy tactics by attacking any concentration of troops or war supplies. The combination of air power, sea power and land armies eventually rolled the aggressor nations back to Berlin and Tokyo, ending the war in 1945.

he WW II Bomber air campaign in Europe was called the Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO), a cooperative effort of the United States and Great Britain aimed at defeating the German war waging capability. From 1942 to 1945, the strategy used heavy bombers to destroy German industrial capabilities, military production facilities, supply lines and communication network, and to pound down the German people's will to fight. This campaign was considered as a preliminary step for the D-Day invasion of Normandy. While the CBO did not alone win the war, it was a necessary component of the total effort which did lead to Germany's unconditional surrender in May 1945.

In the Pacific, bombers were used from the outset of U.S. involvement, starting with the Mitchell Raid on Tokyo in April 1942. Bombing of naval and ground targets was first used to defend against Japanese advances, then shifted to support of the American advances, and finally to strategic bombing of the Japanese home islands. Before the war ended on 2 September 1945 with the unconditional surrender of Japan, thousands of heavy bombers were flying around the clock to destroy every valid target. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 August and 9 August 1945, were the most dramatic single attacks, but massive conventional bombing operations were also horribly devastating and effective.

Of the many different bombers used by the U.S. and its allies during World War II, the B-17, B-24, B 26, and B-29 were the workhorses of the U.S. Army Air Forces fleet. The B-25 "Mitchell" and B-26 "Marauder" were medium bombers used mainly at altitudes of 8,000 to 14,000 feet. They primarily supported ground forces by targeting fortified positions, depots, railroad yards and other targets behind battle lines in addition to supplementing heavier bombers on strategic raids. The B-17 "Flying Fortress" was the first of the big bombers used during World War II. It was used mainly by 8th Air Force in Europe but was employed, in much smaller numbers, in the Pacific Theater.


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## gekho (Aug 29, 2010)

The Martin MB-1 was a 1910s American large biplane bomber designed and built by the Glenn L. Martin Company for the United States Army Air Service. It was the first purpose-built bomber produced by the United States. In 1921 Martin produced its KG.1 variant of the MB-1, with 10 purchased by the Navy as a torpedo bomber under the designation MBT. After two were purchased, the designation was changed to Martin MT. In response to a requirement from the Air Service for a bomber that was superior to the Handley Page O/400. Martin proposed the MB-1 and were rewarded with an initial production contract for six aircraft. The MB-1 was a conventional biplane design with twin fins and rudders mounted above the tailplane and a fixed tailwheel landing gear with four-wheel main gear. Powered by two 400 hp (298 kW) Liberty 12A engines. It had room for a crew of three in open cockpits.

Initial delivery to the Air Service was in October 1918, with the aircraft designated GMB for Glenn Martin Bomber. The first four produced were configured as observation aircraft, and the next two as bombers. Four others were produced before the end of World War I cancelled all remaining war contracts. The last three aircraft each were configured experimentally, with separate designations: GMT (Glenn Martin Transcontinental), a long range version with a 1,500 mi (2,400 km) range; GMC (Glen Martin Cannon) with a nose-mounted 37 mm (1.46 in) cannon; and GMP (Glenn Martin Passenger) as an enclosed 10-passenger transport. The GMP was later re-designated T-1. Six surviving aircraft were later modified and used by the United States Postal Service as mail carriers. The design was the basis the Martin MB-2, which had a greater load capability but was slower and less maneuverable. Ten aircraft were used by the United States Navy from 1922 under the designations MBT and MT and were used as torpedo bombers, two by the Navy and eight by Marine Corps squadron VF-2M.


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## gekho (Aug 29, 2010)

The Martin NBS-1 was a military aircraft of the United States Army Air Service and its successor, the Air Corps. An improved version of the Martin MB-1, a scout-bomber built during the final months of World War I, the NBS-1 was ordered under the designation MB-2 and is often referred to as such. The designation NBS-1, standing for "Night Bomber-Short Range", was adopted by the Air Service after the first five of the Martin bombers were delivered. The NBS-1 became the standard front line bomber of the Air Service in 1920 and remained so until its replacement in 1928-1929 by the Keystone Aircraft series of bombers. The basic MB-2 design also was the standard against which prospective U.S. Army bombers were judged until the production of the Martin B-10 in 1933.

The NBS-1 was a wood-and-canvas biplane without staggered wings, employing twin rudders on a twin vertical tail. Its two Liberty 12-A engines sat in nacelles on the lower wing, flanking the fuselage. Ordered under the company designation MB-2 in June 1920, the NBS-1 was an improved larger version of the Martin MB-1 bomber built by the Glenn L. Martin Company in 1918, also known as the GMB or Glenn Martin Bomber. The first flight of the MB-2 took place 3 September 1920. In addition to more powerful engines, larger wings and fuselage, and simplified landing gear, the NBS-1 also had a unique folding-wings system, hinged outside the engine nacelles to fold backwards for storage in small hangars. Unlike the MB-1, whose engines were mounted between the wings in a fashion similar to the German Staaken R.VI R-bomber, the engines of the NBS-1 were fixed to the lower wing over the landing gear.

The MB-2 was designed as a night bomber and except for a greater load capacity, had reduced performance characteristics compared to its MB-1 predecessor. The first 20 (five MB-2 and 15 NBS-1) were ordered from the Martin Company, which recommended a further 50 be produced to help its struggling financial condition. However the design was owned by the U.S. Army and subsequent contracts for 110 bombers were awarded by low bid to three other companies: Lowe Willard and Fowler Engineering Company of College Point, New York (35 ordered), Curtiss Aircraft (50), and Aeromarine Plane and Motor Company of Keyport, New Jersey.

The engines of the last 20 bombers of the Curtiss order came equipped with turbosuperchargers manufactured by General Electric, the first such modification made in production quantity. Although enabling the NBS-1 to reach an altitude of over 25,000 ft (7,650 m), the turbosuperchargers were mechanically unreliable and not used operationally. The bomber was equipped defensively with five .30 in (7.62 mm) Lewis Guns, mounted in pairs in positions in the nose and upper rear fuselage, and singly in a bottom mount firing behind and beneath the rear fuselage. The first two Martin MB-2s, Air Service s/n AS64195 and AS64196, were retained at McCook Field in Dayton, Ohio, for R&D flight testing, marked with project numbers P162 and P227 respectively, as was the second NBS-1 (AS64201), marked as P222. Four Curtiss NBS-1s were also assigned to McCook.

The NBS-1 was the primary bomber used by Brigadier General Billy Mitchell during Project B, the demonstration bombing of naval ships in July 1921. Six NBS-1 bombers, led by Captain Walter Lawson of the 96th Squadron operating out of Langley Field, bombed and sank the captured German battleship SMS Ostfriesland on 21 July 1921, using specially-developed 2,000 lb (907 kg) demolition bombs externally mounted beneath the fuselage.


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## gekho (Aug 29, 2010)

In development at the same time as the Keystone XB-1, the Curtiss XB-2 was quite similar but proved to be the superior aircraft. Like the Keystone design, the XB-2 also mounted dual Lewis guns in turrets located in the rear of the engine nacelles.

A crew of five was carried by this bomber with a performance rating that placed it far above any planes in its class. Testing of the XB-2 began in September, 1927, and though the qualities were superior to competing types, the higher cost of the B-2 resulted in a limited production order of only 12 planes in June, 1928. The first B-2 was delivered in May, 1929. In view of the excellent performance of the Condor, it is interesting to note the biplane tail assembly used. Production B-2's were the first aircraft of the type to incorporate tail wheels instead of the skid which assisted in braking, but was also responsible for structural failures. 

The XB-2 competed for a United States Army Air Corps production contract with the similar Keystone XB-1, Sikorsky S-37, and Fokker XLB-2. The other three were immediately ruled out, but the Army board appointed to make the contracts were strongly supportive of the smaller Keystone XLB-6, which cost a third as much as the B-2. Furthermore, the B-2 was large for the time and difficult to fit into existing hangars. However, the superior performance of the XB-2 soon wrought a policy change, and in 1928 a production run of 12 was ordered. A later version of the B-2, dubbed the B-2A, featured dual controls for both the pilot and the copilot. Previously, the control wheel and the pitch controls could only be handled by one person at a time. This "dual control" setup became standard on all bombers by the 1930s. There was no production line for the B-2A, though a B-2 was converted to follow its setup. The B-2 design was also used as a transport. The B-2 was quickly made obsolete by technological advances of the 1930s, and served only briefly with the Army Air Corps, being removed from service by 1934. Following production of the B-2, Curtiss Aircraft left the bomber business, and concentrated on the Hawk series of pursuit aircraft in the 1930s.


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## gekho (Aug 29, 2010)

The Keystone B-3A was a bomber aircraft developed for the United States Army Air Corps in the late 1920s. It was originally ordered as the LB-10A (a single-tail modification of the Keystone LB-6), but the Army dropped the LB- 'light bomber' designation in 1930. Though the performance of the B-3A was hardly better than that of the bombers flown at the end of World War I, it had come a long way. In terms of its safety, it was far superior to its oldest predecessors.

The B-3A was the last biplane disbanded by the Army; it remained in service until 1940. A few years after it was first produced, the introduction of all-metal monoplanes rendered it almost completely obsolete. The B5 version was the same as the B-3A, except for Wright R-1750-3 Cyclone engines; only 27 were delivered.


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## Wayne Little (Aug 29, 2010)

Cool!


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## vikingBerserker (Aug 29, 2010)

Great info!


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## Gnomey (Aug 29, 2010)

Good stuff!


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## gekho (Aug 30, 2010)

The Keystone B-4A Panther was ordered alongside the B-6A, and together they were the last biplane bombers to enter American service. Later in the 1930s the entire Panther range would have been given a single B designation with the changes of engine indicated by model letters, but in the early 30s minor changes were often given new designations. The B-3 and B-4 were both powered by Pratt Whitney engines, the B-5 and B-6 by Wright engines. The B-3 and B-5 of 1930 both had 525hp engines, the B-4 and B-6 of 1932 both had 575hp engines.

Like all of the Panthers the B-4A was armed with three 0.30in guns, one in the nose, one in the rear cockpit and one in a fuselage tunnel. The B-4A carried the same bomb load as the earlier B-3A, and had the same operational range. The more powerful engines did give it a slightly increased top speed, but by the time the B-4A entered service in 1932 the Martin B-10 was already under development, and this modern all-metal monoplane would make the Panther obsolete - it had a maximum range twice that of the B-4A and a top speed of 215mph. 

Five Y1B-4 service test aircraft were produced by modifying aircraft first ordered as the LB-13. They were then followed by twenty-five production aircraft, which entered service in 1932. A number of the B-4As were used during the Air Corps’ brief airmail experiments during the first half of 1934, but the bombers were not overly successful in that role – the presence of the heavy cargo loads in unexpected placed affected the balance of the aircraft. By the mid 1930s the B-4A was obsolete as a bomber, but some remained in use as observation aircraft into the 1940s.


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## gekho (Aug 30, 2010)

The Keystone LB-6 was an 1920s American light bomber built by the Keystone Aircraft company for the United States Army Air Corps. It was called the Panther by the company but adoption of the name was rejected by the U.S. Army. The LB-6 was the first operational service model of a 13,000 lb (5,897 kg) twin-tail biplane bomber of a series produced by Keystone that included the follow-on LB-7 bomber. A number of variants were built for test and evaluation purposes but never placed into production or service.

According to the performance figures given by the National Museum of the USAF the LB-6 and LB-7 had exactly the same performance figures. This should not really surprise, as the two aircraft were of identical design, and were both powered by 525hp radial engines. The LB-7 was used as the basis for a number of experiments with new engines. One became the single LB-8 when it was given geared Pratt Whitney R-1860-3 radials. Another became the single LB-9 after receiving geared Wright Cyclone engines, and a third became the XLB-12 and was used to test the Pratt Whitney R-1690-3 engine.

The LB-7 was the last entry in the Light Bomber series to enter production. An order was placed for 63 LB-10s, but these were all produced as either the B-3 Panther or B-5 Panther. On 5 August 1929 nine LB-7s, each with 11-12 hours of gasoline onboard, left Langley Field heading for Rockwell Field California, to take part in the national air races. In 1928 the outward journey had taken six days, but in 1929 the LB-7s reached Rockwell in 40 hours, arriving on the evening of 6 August. Three off them then immediately carried out a practise mission of Point Loma. One was used in the 1930 exercises as a transport aircraft, and despite claims that all LB aircraft were give B designations in 1930, four LB-7s, with their original designation, were used in the 1931 Air Corps exercises.


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## gekho (Aug 30, 2010)

In the late 1920s the US War Department was taking note of developments in aircraft design, such as the technical revolution created by the appearance of all-metal cantilever monoplanes with retractable landing gear. It was decided initially to adopt such features in twin-engined aircraft that were intended for fast long-range reconnaissance, and the War Department ordered two Fokker XO-27 prototypes in this category. Fearing it might lose a valuable source of revenue, Douglas designed an aircraft incorporating such features and in March 1930 received an order for one example each of the Douglas XO-35 and Douglas XO-36. They were intended to differ only in their engines, the former having geared Curtiss Conquerors and the latter a direct-drive version of the same engine. In the event, the XO-36 was redesignated XB-7 and built as a bomber. In a parallel development the second of the Fokker XO-27s was completed as the XB-8 bomber. Later, six YO-27s and six Y1O-27s were delivered to the US Army.

The Douglas XO-35 was test-flown in spring 1931, causing quite a stir among a public used to seeing the lumbering twin-engined biplanes used by the US Army. It was a slim monoplane with a gull wing set high on the fuselage, the main units of its landing gear retracting into streamlined engine nacelles leaving only the lower part of the wheels exposed. The engine nacelles were attached to the wing undersurfaces and fuselage sides by complex strut assemblies, with the fuselage having corrugated metal sheet covering. There were open gunners' cockpits in the nose and amidships; the pilot's open cockpit was located immediately forward of the wing leading edge; and the fourth crew member, the radio-operator, had an enclosed cabin behind the pilot's position. The XB-7 was almost identical, but had underfuselage racks for up to 544kg of bombs. During the US Fiscal Year 1932 orders were placed for seven Y1B-7 and five Y1O-35 service-test aircraft. These differed from the prototypes mainly by having smooth metal sheet covering for the fuselages, and strut- rather than wire-braced horizontal tailplanes.

The Y1B-7s, later designated B-7, were attached to the two US Army bombardment squadrons based at March Field, California, while the O-35 aircraft (previously Y1O-35s) flew with observation units. In February 1934 the five O-35s, six surviving B-7s and XO-35 prototype were all assigned to the air mail route linking Wyoming with the west coast of the United States. Operations at night and in bad weather took their toll and in the four-month emergency period during which the US Army ran the nation's air mail service no fewer than four of the B-7s were lost in crashes. Soon afterwards the remaining B-7s and O-35s were relegated to second-line duties, an O-35 being the last to be grounded in February 1939.


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## gekho (Aug 30, 2010)

The Boeing YB-9 was the first all-metal monoplane bomber aircraft designed for the United States Army Air Corps. The YB-9 was an enlarged alteration of Boeing's Model 200 Commercial Transport. In May 1930, Boeing had flown its Model 200 Monomail single-engined mailplane. The Monomail was of radical design for the time, being a semi-monocoque, stressed skin cantilever monoplane with a retractable undercarriage. The United States Army Air Corps bomber squadrons were largely equipped with slow biplanes such as the Keystone B-6, and Boeing decided to design and build a twin-engined bomber using the same techniques used in the Monomail to re-equip the Air Corps.

Using its own money, Boeing decided to build two prototypes of its new bomber design as a private venture. The two aircraft differed only in the engines used, with the Model 214 to be powered by two liquid-cooled Curtiss V-1570-29 Conqueror engines while the Model 215 had two Pratt Whitney R-1860 Hornet radial engines.[3] Both aircraft were low winged cantilever monoplanes with a slim, oval cross-section fuselage accommodating a crew of five. The pilot and co-pilot sat in separate open cockpits, with the co-pilot, who doubled as the bombadier sitting forward of the pilot. Two gunners, each armed with a single machine gun sat in nose and dorsal positions, while a radio operator sat inside the fuselage. Like the Monomail, a retractable tailwheel undercarriage was used.

The first of the two prototypes to fly was the radial powered Model 215 which, carrying civil markings and the aircraft registration X-10633, made its maiden flight on April 13, 1931. It was leased to the Air Corps for testing under the designation XB-901, demonstrating a speed of 163 mph (262 km/h). Testing was successful, and both the XB-901 and the as-yet incomplete Model 214 were purchased as the YB-9 and Y1B-9 respectively on August 13 1931, with an order for a further five for service testing following shortly. The Y1B-9 (Y1 indicating funding outside normal fiscal year procurement), powered by two liquid-cooled Curtiss V-1570-29 'Conqueror' engines, first flew on November 5 1931. The increased power from these engines, combined with increased streamlining of the engine nacelles, increased its top speed to 173 mph (278 km/h). The YB-9, meanwhile, had been re-engined with more powerful Hornets, demonstrating slightly better performance than the Y1B-9, which was therefore also re-engined with Hornets. With the exception of the B-2 Condor, liquid-cooled engines were never used on production bombers for the United States military. The air-cooled radial engine was lighter and more reliable than the liquid-cooled engine, and less vulnerable to enemy damage.

The five Y1B-9A service test aircraft had the R-1860-11 Hornet engines which powered the re-engined YB-9 and Y1B-9 and a redesigned vertical stabilizer. While enclosed canopys were consided and designed, the B-9 was never fitted with them. Although it equalled the speed of all existing American fighter aircraft, no further aircraft were built, as the Glenn L. Martin Company had flown a prototype of a more advanced bomber, the XB-907, which was ordered into production as the Martin B-10. The first of the five Y1B-9As entered service with the 20th Bomb Group on September 14, 1932, with all being in service by the end of March 1933. The new bomber proved impossible to intercept during air exercises in May 1932, strengthening calls for improved air defence warning systems. Two B-9s were destroyed during crashes in 1933, one of the accidents being fatal, while the remaining aircraft were gradually phased out over the next two years, with the last being withdrawn on April 26, 1935.


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## gekho (Aug 31, 2010)

The Martin B-10 medium bomber was a breakthrough design for American military aviation when it appeared on the scene in 1932. Though made obsolete at the outbreak of hostilities in World War Two, the type persevered in other forms thanks to export customers. In the end, over 300 examples of the type would be produced that would cover the B-10 and the marginally improved B-10 in the form of the B-12.

Once in production and reaching operational status, the B-10 became the first American designed and bomber made of all-metal construction practices and produced in any quantity. The system was also the first design for the Americans to feature armament that was fitted to turrets for increased defensive performance against enemy fighters. In any case, the B-10 held many evolutionary breakthroughs in the field of military aviation for the United States - practices and design lessons that would sure play a role in future bomber needs just years later.

The Martin B-10 was a twin engine medium-class bomber fitted with Wright-brand R-1820 G-102 Cyclone 9-cylinder radial piston engines. The engines were fitted on what would become the USAAC's first attempt at a cantilever low-wing monoplane design. The crew of four were placed about in windowed positions which consisted primarily of the nose compartment, the cockpit and a mid-to-rear glazed area. Armament was strictly defensive and consisted of a single 7.62mm machine gun in the nose, a single 7.62mm machine in a dorsal position and still another single 7.62mm machine gun in a ventral position. Maximum bombload was limited to 2,260 pounds of internal ordnance.

Export customers kept the B-10 production lines moving along well after the United States Army Air Corp had removed the type from its service. Primary customers included the Netherlands with an order of 120, Argentina with 35 and Thailand and Turkey with 26 and 20 respectively. Though outclassed in a few short years, the B-10 was nonetheless a design worth noting as it effectively did away with any future aircraft designs not of all-metal construction. Glenn Martin won the prestigious Collier Trophy in 1932 for his design work on the Martin B-10.


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## gekho (Aug 31, 2010)

In ordinary service, the Martin B-10 classic airplane was used to develop the tactics and the leaders that would bear the brunt of the U.S. air effort during World War II. Its most important task, perhaps, was to prepare the way for the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, which would have the development potential to fight the air war over Europe. Martin was spurred on by its success with the Martin B-10 to develop the later Maryland, Baltimore, and Marauder bombers. Martin sold 154 of the B-10 and the basically similar B-12 and B-14s to the Air Corps, which, somewhat remarkably, allowed Martin to sell the basic design to overseas customers. As a result, Martin sold 189 export models to Argentina, China, Holland, Siam (present-day Thailand), Turkey, and the USSR.

The Dutch purchased export versions of the Martin B-10 for use in the Netherlands East Indies, where the planes gave a good account of themselves against the Japanese. The Dutch Martins reportedly made hundreds of sorties and were credited with sinking several Japanese troopships. Ultimately, all but one was destroyed in combat; the sole survivor made it to Australia, where it was used as a squadron hack, a utility plane. The magnificent United States Air Force Museum wanted a Martin B-10 in its collection for many years, and was finally able to locate one in Argentina, where it had served with the Argentine navy. The plane was brought back to the United States and completely restored, and now stands as beautiful today in its blue and yellow finish as it did when it was the pride of the Air Corps.


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## gekho (Aug 31, 2010)

More pics


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## gekho (Sep 4, 2010)

More pics


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## gekho (Sep 4, 2010)

More pics


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## Wayne Little (Sep 5, 2010)

That Martin thingy is just plain ugly....still nice pics though!


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## vikingBerserker (Sep 5, 2010)

Great pics!


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## gekho (Sep 24, 2010)

The Curtiss T-32 Condor II was a 1930s American biplane airliner and bomber aircraft built by the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. It was used by the United States Army Air Corps as an executive transport. The Condor II was a 1933 two-bay biplane of mixed construction with a single fin and rudder and retractable landing gear. It was powered by two Wright Cyclone radial engines. The first aircraft was flown on 30 January 1933 and a production batch of 21 aircraft were then built. The production aircraft were fitted out as 12-passenger luxury night sleeper transports. They entered service with Eastern Air Transport and American Airways, forerunners of Eastern Air Lines and American Airlines on regular night services for the next 3 years.

Two modified T-32s were bought by the United States Army Air Corps (designated YC-30) for use as executive transports. One Condor was converted with extra fuel tanks and used by the 1938 Byrd Antarctic Expedition, and unique for a Condor had a fixed undercarriage to allow use on floats or skis. Some aircraft were later modified to AT-32 standard with variable-pitch propellers and improved engine nacelles. The AT-32D variant could be converted from sleeper configuration to daytime use with 15 seats. Four T-32s operating in the United Kingdom were impressed into service with the Royal Air Force at the outbreak of the World War II.

Eight bomber variants (BT-32) were built with manually-operated machine gun turrets in the nose and above the rear fuselage. All these aircraft were exported. A military cargo version (CT-32) was also built for Argentina. It had a large loading door on the starboard side of the fuselage.


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## gekho (Sep 24, 2010)

However determined the majority of Americans might have been in the 1930s to maintain the nation's long-established policy of isolation, there were still numbers of radicals, in both the United States government and services, who realised that almost certainly the day would dawn when, for one reason or another, the USA would have to become involved in warlike activities. Given such circumstances, one of the essential weapons would be an advanced strategic bomber, and in the US Army men like Colonels Hugh Knerr and C.W. Howard were working steadily away in the 1930s to ensure, to the best of their capabilities, that when the moment came such a bomber would be available. This thinking had led to the introduction into service of such bombers as the Boeing B-9, and the Martin B-10 and B-12. While it was appreciated that these did not represent the ideal, they prepared the way for the procurement of a true strategic bomber.

In 1933 came the US Army's requirement for a design study of such an aircraft, then identified as the XBLR-1 (Experimental Bomber Long Range): a range of 8046km was included in the specification to provide long-range strategic capability. Both Boeing and Martin produced design studies, but it was the former company which received the US Army's contract for construction and development of its Boeing Model 294, under the designation XB-15. When this large monoplane flew for the first time, on 15 October 1937, it was then the largest aircraft to be built in the USA.

As might be expected, it introduced a number of original features, including internal passages within the wing to permit minor engine repairs or adjustments in flight; two auxiliary power units within the fuselage to provide a 110-volt DC electrical system; sleeping bunks to allow for 'two-watch' operation; and the introduction of a flight engineer into the crew to reduce the pilot's workload. Intended to be powered by engines of around 1491kW, which in fact did not materialise for some years, the actual powerplant comprised four 746kW Pratt Whitney Twin Wasp Senior radial engines, which meant that performance was far below that estimated. Purely an experimental aircraft, it was, however, provided with cargo doors and flown as a cargo transport during World War II under the designation XC-105.


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## Gnomey (Sep 24, 2010)

Nice shots!


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## vikingBerserker (Sep 24, 2010)

She was a beautiful bird.


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## gekho (Sep 25, 2010)

More pics


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## Wayne Little (Sep 25, 2010)

8)


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## gekho (Sep 26, 2010)

More pics


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## gekho (Sep 26, 2010)

More pics


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## otftch (Sep 26, 2010)

Great pics. Is the next to the last photo a Douglass B-19 ?


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## gekho (Sep 26, 2010)

you mean the pic with the words "Goleta Air and Space Museum"? It could be.....


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## otftch (Sep 26, 2010)

[QUOTE you mean the pic with the words "Goleta Air and Space Museum"? It could be.....[/QUOTE]

Yes. Look athe DC-3 in the same photo and note the similarity of the wing shape.
Ed


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## Gnomey (Sep 26, 2010)

Good stuff!


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## gekho (Sep 27, 2010)

The Boeing B-17, and the Consolidated B-24 were the United States' two standard heavy bombers until the introduction of the B-29 Superfortress. B-17s were flown by the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC), throughout the American participation in the Second World War. They were used by the US Eighth Air Force, based in the UK, to bombard German targets in Europe during daylight hours, a method which resulted initially in very heavy losses of aircraft and crew. As B-17 refinements progressed, along with better pilot training and tactics, it would become a formidable adversary in the Allied war against Germany.

The Flying Fortress was designed for a USAAC competition, announced in 1934, to find a modern replacement for the assorted Keystone biplane bombers, then in service.1 The requirement was for a multi-engined bomber to be used mostly as a coastal-defense aircraft. Specifications required were: a range of at least 1,020 miles (1,641 km), but preferably 2,200 miles (3,540 km); a speed of at least 200 mph (322 km/h), but preferably 250 mph (402 km/h); a capability of carrying a 2,000 lb (907 kg) bomb load.2 A Boeing design team began work on the Model 299 prototype in June 1934, and construction began in August of the same year. (The most significant rival to the Model 299 was the Douglas DB-1, which later developed into the Douglas B-18 Bolo.) The Model 299 was make-or-break gamble for Boeing,3 which first flew on July 28,1935, and eventually won the competition. Boeing built a few preproduction Y1B-17s (later redesignated B-17As), followed by one Y1B-17A, and then followed by thirty-nine B-17Bs. Since funding was lacking at the time, only thirty Flying Fortresses were fully operational when Hitler's forces invaded Poland in September 1939.4 The US was not involved in the fighting in Europe at the time, so it did not seem to be a matter of urgency. However, as it became clearer that US involvement was inevitable, after the Munich Crisis,5 orders for B-17s were increased. Thirty-eight B-17Cs and forty-two B-17Ds were built before the first large production run began with the B-17E variant. Twenty B-17Cs were delivered to the RAF as Fortress Is, which quickly showed that defensive armament was inadequate, (the B-17C carried seven 50-cal. machine-guns) and at high altitude raids of 30,000 ft. (9,144 m), the defensive guns froze up, when they tried to fire them. Also bombs raids at high altitudes proved to be very inaccurate, and most of the bombs were missing their targets. The airplane was revised as the Model 299O, with the most important changes incorporated into the Model 299H (B-17C and B-17D).6 Modifications included self-sealing tanks and additional armor for crew protection.


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## gekho (Sep 27, 2010)

In September of 1941, the B-17E appeared with an extensively modified empennage. Gone was the pert fin and rudder riding precariously behind the stabilizer. Instead, a broad yet graceful dorsal fin rose from amidships. Aesthetically, the B-17E was a retrograde step, but more importantly, it would turn a relative failure, into an outstanding military success. The B-17E enveloped a deadly stinger of twin .50-cal. machine guns, and a remote controlled belly turret held two more .50s. One hundred-twelve B-17Es were built, followed by four hundred more, with a manned Sperry ball turret replacing the remote system. The B-17E was lengthened to 73 feet 10 inches (22.5 m) to accommodate the new defensive tail position. Top speed was 317 mph (510 km/h), cruising at over 200 mph (321 km/h) with 4,000 lb (1814 kg) of bombs. The crew was increased from nine to ten members. The additional equipment made the aircraft seven tons heavier than the original Model 299.7

The Pearl Harbor attack of December 7,1941 finally brought the United States into the war and production of the B-17 rapidly increased. By July 1942, the US began forming the Eighth Air Force in Britain, equipped with B-17Es. The 'E' represented an important improvement over the earlier B-17s, in that it had a tail turret, eliminating a previous defensive blind spot. Production of the B-17F was undertaken by Douglas and Vega, a subsidiary of the Lockheed Aircraft Corp., but modifications were taking their toll in airspeed. There were more than four hundred modifications on the B-17F.8 The B-17F, now armed with eleven .50-cal. guns, could only reach 299 mph (481 km/h), but landing speed was up to 90 mph (144 km/h)! Service ceiling was 37,500 ft. (11,430 m) and range 2,880 miles (4,634 km). It took twenty-five and a half minutes to climb to 20,000 ft. (6,096 m). Three thousand, four hundred B-17Fs were produced by the three companies.


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## gekho (Sep 27, 2010)

On August 17,1942, United States B-17s carried out a bombing raid on the railway yards at Rouen in France. The real offensive, however, started on January 27,1943, when B-17s of the USAAF made their first attacks on Germany. Initially, casualties were very high because they attacked during daylight hours to achieve greater accuracy, and because proper formation flying (to enable a group of airplanes to defend each other with crossfire) had not yet been formulated. Also the B-17F lacked adequate defense against a head-on attack. By September 1943, the Flying Fortress showed its final shape during firepower tests on the XB-40, a modified B-17F with the advantage of a "chin" turret. The success of the chin turret, led to the delivery of the B-17G (the major production version), which was the first production variant to have a chin turret installed, under the nose. The Bendix turret held two .50-cal. guns, which increased the armament to thirteen guns.9 In all, there were 8,680 B-17Gs built by Boeing, Vega, and Douglas to make this the largest production variation. Produced in greater numbers than any other single model, more B-17Gs were lost, than any other model. B-17G specifications included a span of 103 feet 9 inches (31.6 m), length of 74 feet 4 inches (22.6 m), and a height of 19 feet 1 inch (5.8 m). The four supercharged Wright R-1820-97 Cyclones delivered 1,200 hp (895 kW) and gave a top speed of 287 mph (462 km/h), cruising at 182 mph (293 km/h). Service ceiling was 35,800 ft. (10,850 m), with a max. range of 3,400 miles (5,471 km). Empty and gross weights were 36,135 lb (16,390 kg)and 65,500 lb (29,710 kg). Maximum fuel load was 3,630 gallons (13,741 liters). 

On 19 July 1943, US B-17s and B-24 Liberators carried out the first bombing raid on Rome. US bombing in Europe reached its high point in February 1945 with a 1,000-bomber raid on Berlin, escorted by 400 fighters, and the Dresden raid (alongside RAF Lancasters) which, caused a massive fire storm to sweep the city. Meanwhile, B-17s were also helping to win the war against Japan, although by mid-1943 the larger Boeing B-29 had begun to take over the major strategic bombing missions in the Pacific theater. Following the first Model 299, the Air Corps purchased 12,725 B-17 type aircraft, of which a few served with Royal Air Force Coastal Command and the United States Navy for patrol, air-sea rescue, antisubmarine and other duties. Cargo conversions of the B-17 were known as the XC-108.


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## gekho (Sep 27, 2010)

American air power made its European debut during the summer of 1942. On June 12, Colonel Harry Halverson led thirteen B-24 Liberators on a first daring, long-distance raid against the oil refineries at Ploesti, Rumania. Taking off from Egypt, 1,000 miles from the target, the bombers surprised the enemy. All the planes got safely away, though one B-24 crash landed later.

The first American mission from England took place, appropriately, on the Fourth of July. Six air crews, flying A-20 Boston bombers borrowed from the RAF, joined six British crews on a low-level raid against air bases in Holland. The Germans were warned by radio from a picket ship off the Dutch coast, and two of the bombers flown by Americans were shot down. The bombardiers of two of the other planes were so confused by the camouflaged targets that they failed to drop their bombs at all. 

More auspicious was a raid on August 17, against the railroad yards at Rouen. A dozen B-17 Flying Fortresses loaded with three hundred-pound bombs, completed their mission without losses. In the fall, the North African invasion diverted planes and men and temporarily stalled the buildup of US air strength in England. But as the Eighth continued to stab at the enemy, American crews matched the courage and ability of veterans.

On one occasion, for instance, nine B-17s, turning back from a canceled mission against Rotterdam, were jumped by more than twenty German fighters. The Americans fought their way back to England, but in one bomber the pilot was injured and the copilot killed. The bombardier, who had been washed out of flying school, took over the controls and flew the plane back home on two engines.


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## Gnomey (Sep 27, 2010)

Good shots of the "Fort".


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## gekho (Sep 28, 2010)

More pics


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## gekho (Sep 28, 2010)

More pics


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## gekho (Sep 28, 2010)

More pics


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## gekho (Sep 29, 2010)

More pics


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## gekho (Sep 29, 2010)

More pics


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## vikingBerserker (Sep 29, 2010)

Great pics!


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## Gnomey (Sep 29, 2010)

Great shots!


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## gekho (Sep 30, 2010)

More pics


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## gekho (Sep 30, 2010)

More pics


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## gekho (Oct 2, 2010)

Faced with a US Army Air Corps requirement of early 1934 for a bomber with virtually double the bomb load and range capability of the Martin B-10, which was then the USAAC's standard bomber, Douglas had little doubt that it could draw upon engineering experience and design technology of the DC-2 commercial transport which was then on the point of making its first flight.

Private-venture prototypes to meet the US Army's requirements were evaluated at Wright Field, Ohio, in August 1935, these including the Boeing Model 299, Douglas DB-1 and Martin 146. The first was built as the B-17 Flying Fortress, the last was produced as an export variant of the Martin B-10/B-12 series, and the Douglas DB-1 (Douglas Bomber 1) was ordered in January 1936 into immediate production under the designation B-18. Derived from the commercial DC-2, the DB-1 prototype retained a basically similar wing, tail unit and powerplant. There were, however, two differences in the wing: while retaining the same basic planform as the DC-2, that of the DB-1 had a 1.37m increase in span and was mounted in a mid-wing instead of low-wing position on an entirely new fuselage, one that was deeper than that of the commercial transport to provide adequate accommodation for a crew of six, and to include nose and dorsal turrets, a bomb-aimer's position, and an internal bomb bay. There was, in addition, a third gunner's position, with a ventral gun discharging via a tunnel in the underfuselage structure. Powerplant comprised two 694kW Wright R-1820-45 Cyclone 9 engines.

A total of 133 B-18s was covered by the first contract, this number including the single DB-1 which had served as a prototype. True production aircraft, which had the type name Bold, had a number of equipment changes, producing an increase in the normal loaded weight, and more-powerful Wright R-1820-45 radials. The last B-18 to come off the production line differed by having a power-operated nose turret, and carried the company identification DB-2, but this feature did not become standard on subsequent production aircraft. 

The next contracts, covering 217 B-18 A aircraft, were placed in June 1937 (177) and mid-1938 (40). This version differed by having the bomb-aimer's position extended forward and over the nose-gunner's station, and the installation of yet-more-powerful Wright R-1820-53 engines. Most of the USAAC's bomber squadrons were equipped with B-18s or B-18As in 1940, and the majority of the 33 B-18As which equipped the USAAC's 5th and 11th Bomb Groups, based on Hawaiian airfields, were destroyed when the Japanese launched their attack on Pearl Harbor.

When in 1942 B-18s were replaced in first-line service by B-17s, some 122 B-18As were equipped with search radar and magnetic anomaly detection (MAD) equipment for deployment in the Caribbean on anti-submarine patrols under the designation B-18B. The Royal Canadian Air Force also acquired 20 B-18As which, under the designation Digby Mk I, were employed on maritime patrol. The designation B-18C applied to two other aircraft reconfigured for ASW patrol. Another two aircraft were converted for use in a transport role under the designation C-58, but many others were used similarly without conversion or redesignation.


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## gekho (Oct 2, 2010)

When war came to the Pacific, most of the B-18/B-18A aircraft based overseas in the Philippines and in Hawaii were destroyed on the ground in the initial Japanese onslaught. The few Bolos that remained played no significant role in subsequent operations. The Bolos remaining in the continental USA and in the Caribbean were then deployed in a defensive role in anticipation of attacks on the US mainland. Fortunately, these attacks never materialized. B-17s supplanted B-18s in first-line service in 1942. Following this, 122 B-18As were modified for anti-submarine warfare. The bombardier was replaced by a search radar with a large radome. Magnetic anomaly detection (MAD) equipment was sometimes housed in a tail boom. These aircraft, designated B-18B, were used in the Caribbean on anti-submarine patrol.

Two aircraft were transferred to Força Aérea Brasileira in 1942 and used with a provisional conversion training unit set up under the provisions of Lend-Lease. They were later used for anti-submarine patrols. They were struck off charge at the end of the war. The Royal Canadian Air Force acquired 20 B-18As (designated the Douglas Digby Mark I), and also used them for patrol duties. On 2 October 1942, a B-18A, piloted by Captain Howard Burhanna Jr. of the 99th Bomb Squadron, depth charged and sank the German U-boat U-512 north of Cayenne, French Guiana. Bolos and Digbys sank an additional two submarines during the course of the war. RCAF Eastern Air Command (EAC) Digbys carried out 11 attacks on U-boats. U-520 was confirmed sunk by Flying Officer F. Raymes' crew of No 10 (BR) Sqn, on 30 October 1942, east of Newfoundland. However, the antisubmarine role was relatively short lived, and the Bolos were superseded in this role in 1943 by the B-24 Liberator which had a substantially longer range and a much heavier payload.

Surviving USAAF B-18s ended their useful lives in training and transport roles within the continental United States, and saw no further combat action. Two B-18As were modified as unarmed cargo transports under the designation C-58. At the end of the war, those bombers that were left were sold as surplus on the commercial market. Some postwar B-18s of various models were operated as cargo or crop-spraying aircraft by commercial operators.


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## Gnomey (Oct 2, 2010)

Good shots!


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## vikingBerserker (Oct 2, 2010)

Very nice. Always dreamed of finding one that had been coverted to a cargo plane and restore it.


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## gekho (Oct 3, 2010)

More pics


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## gekho (Oct 3, 2010)

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## Shortround6 (Oct 3, 2010)

I like the communication by carrier pigeon picture.

Things were a lot different in the 1930's


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## gekho (Oct 4, 2010)

More pics


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## gekho (Oct 4, 2010)

More pics


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## Wayne Little (Oct 4, 2010)

Some great shots....


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## Matt308 (Oct 4, 2010)

Interesting pic in post #34, last shot. The B-17 has an inflatable ball under the belly to allow the positioning of tractors under each wing. Don't see that pic too often. Very cool.


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## daveT (Oct 4, 2010)

The photo of the B-18 in the sand was taken at Bellows Airfield Hawaii. B18 of the 3rd Bomb Group BC 20 after overrunning the runway. Here are some more B-18 photos


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## daveT (Oct 4, 2010)

And one they left behind. for more pictures and the story go to
Hawaii: Big Island B-18 - Wreckchasing Message Board


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## Gnomey (Oct 4, 2010)

Good stuff and good story.


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## gekho (Oct 5, 2010)

More pics


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## gekho (Oct 5, 2010)

The Douglas XB-19 was the largest American aircraft built until the completion of the Convair B-36 in August of 1946. The XB-19 project had its origin in a secret Army Air Corps project of the mid 'thirties for an advanced long-range bomber. On February 5, 1935, the Army Air Corps initiated a secret project for an experimental long-range bomber, with the goal of seeing just how far the state of the art could be pushed. It was assigned the codename "Project D", and was classified top secret. No production was envisaged, since "Project D" was more of a proof-of-concept vehicle than it was a serious proposal for a production military aircraft.

Preliminary discussions were carried out with Douglas and Sikorsky, the only two companies which showed any interest in participating in the project. The Army wanted the prototype to be delivered by March 31, 1938. On July 9, 1935, the designation XBLR-2 was assigned to the Douglas proposal, the type symbol BLR standing for Bomber, Long Range. The BLR type symbol had been introduced in 1935 to cover large, long-range bombers. At the same time, the competing Sikorsky design was assigned the designation XBLR-3. A contract covering preliminary and detailed design, mock-up construction and testing of critical components was sent to Douglas in October of 1935 and was approved on October 18.

In March of 1936, wooden mockups of the Douglas and Sikorsky designs were inspected. At that time, the Douglas proposal was deemed superior, and the contract for the Sikorsky XBLR-3 was cancelled. Progress on the XBLR-2 proceeded rather slowly due to the shortage of funds caused by the limited military budget allocated for research and development during the Depression years 1935 to 1937. The aircraft was conceived as a large, four-engined, low-winged monoplane. A tricycle undercarriage was to have been fitted, which was still rather unusual for the time. This undercarriage was tested on a Douglas OA-4B Dolphin amphibian loaned back to the company by the Army.

The XBLR-2 was originally to have been powered by four 1600 hp Allison XV-3420-1 twenty-four cylinder liquid-cooled engines. The XV-3420 was basically a pair of V-1710 twelve-cylinder liquid-cooled Vee engines coupled together to drive a single propeller. On November 2, 1936, the Douglas company decided to substitute the 2000 hp Wright R-3350 air-cooled radial for the coupled Allisons originally specified. The separate BLR type symbol was abolished in 1936, and the XBLR-2 was redesignated B-19 in the B-for-bomber series. By late 1937, enough R D funds had been made available so that a contract change calling for the construction of a single prototype under the designation XB-19 was issued on November 19, 1937, but not approved until March 8, 1938. The serial number 38-471 was assigned.


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## gekho (Oct 5, 2010)

By late 1938, the XB-19 was way behind schedule because of the lack of adequate development funds from the USAAC. The Douglas company had been forced to spend a considerable amount of its own money on the XB-19 project and badly needed the XB-19 design staff to work on other aircraft projects that had better prospects for a production future. By this time, the weight of the XB-19 was increasing excessively, resulting in an expectation of a progressively poorer and poorer performance with the engines specified. During the previous three years the advances in the state of the art had been so rapid that the basic B-19 design was by this time quite obsolescent. Consequently, on August 30, 1938 the company recommended to the Army that the XB-19 contract be cancelled.

However, the Army's Materiel Division refused to abandon the project, and construction of the first prototype continued slowly at Douglas. In 1940, the Army, perhaps recognizing that the XB-19 had by that time lost most if not all of its military importance, finally removed the aircraft from its list of secret projects, and the aircraft became a hot item in the popular press as a radically new long-range bomber for America's defense against foreign foes. The XB-19 was finally completed in May of 1941. It was a very large, all-metal stressed-skin low-winged monoplane with a retractable tricycle undercarriage. It had a wingspan of 212 feet and a maximum gross weight of 162,000 pounds. It was physically the largest American aircraft yet built, and was to remain so until the completion of the Convair B-36 in 1946.

The XB-19 was powered by four Wright R-3350-5 eighteen-cylinder air-cooled radials rated at 2000 hp each for takeoff. They drove three-bladed constant-speed propellers. Total internal fuel capacity was 10,350 US gallons, with provision for the fitting of additional tanks of 824 gallon capacity in the bomb bay for additional range. Bombs could be carried either in an internal bomb bay or on ten underwing racks. The internal bomb bay could accommodate eight 2000-pound, 16 1100-pounds, or 30 600-pound bombs. The ten underwing racks could each accommodate bombs of up to 2000 pounds in weight for short-range missions. Maximum bomb capacity was 37,100 pounds.

Defensive armament of the XB-19 (not fitted at the time of completion) was quite heavy for the time. It consisted of one 37-mm cannon and one 0.30-inch machine gun in each of the nose and forward dorsal turrets, one 0.5-inch machine gun in the tail position, rear dorsal turret, ventral turret, and port and starboard positions. One 0.30-inch machine gun was fitted on each side of the bombardier's position and on each side of the fuselage below the tailplane. There was no armor protection for the crew and there were no self-sealing fuel tanks included, but these features would undoubtedly have to have been included had the B-19 ever gone into production.


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## gekho (Oct 5, 2010)

The normal combat crew of the XB-19 was 16, which included a pilot, co-pilot, aircraft commander, navigator, flight engineer, radio operator, bombardier, a gunner operating the nose power turret, a gunner who operated 0.30-inch guns pointing from each side of the nose compartment, a gunner operating the forward dorsal power turret, an upper rear dorsal turret gunner, two waist gunners, a belly gunner, a tail gunner, and a gunner seated below the stabilizer operating 0.30-inch guns firing from either side of the aircraft. However, an additional crew consisting of 2 flight mechanics and six relief crewmembers could be carried in a special compartment installed in the fuselage above the bomb bay with eight seats and six bunks. Passages in the lower wing gave mechanics direct access to the engines while the aircraft was in flight. The XB-19 even had a complete galley for the inflight preparation of hot meals.

Over three years behind the original schedule, the first flight of the XB-19 took place from Clover Field in Santa Monica on June 27, 1941 with a crew of seven captained by Major Stanley M. Umstead. On its first flight, it was flown to March Field and turned over to the Army for evaluation. Such was the degree of popular enthusiasm aroused by the XB-19 that President Franklin Roosevelt himself telegraphed congratulations to Donald Douglas for this achievement. Thirty hours of manufacturer's flight tests were carried out at March Field before the XB-19 was tentatively accepted by the Army in October of 1941. After the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, as a matter of precaution the XB-19 was painted in camouflage and its guns were loaded during its last four test flights in California. On January 23, 1942, the XB-19 was transferred to Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio, hopefully well out of range of any attacking Japanese aircraft.

After more tests and the carrying out of some minor modifications which included the installation of improved brakes, the aircraft was formally accepted by the Army in June of 1942. The Army paid Douglas $1,400,064 for the XB-19. However, the company had spent almost 4 million dollars of its own funds on the project, so Douglas managed to lose money on the XB-19. Nevertheless, the XB-19 proved on tests to be relatively trouble-free, with the exception of engine cooling difficulties. These problems required that the engine cooling gills be kept open during long flights, reducing maximum speed at 15,700 feet from 224 mph to 204 mph.


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## gekho (Oct 5, 2010)

Following the completion of its series of flight tests, the XB-19 was eventually modified at Wright Field as a cargo aircraft and fitted with four 2600 hp Allison V-3420-11 turbosupercharged twenty-four cylinder liquid cooled engines, which was the production version of the engine that had originally been specified for the aircraft. It was redesignated XB-19A. The XB-19A could reach a maximum speed of 275 mph and was no longer plagued with engine cooling problems. Although the XB-19/XB-19A never saw production, it provided extremely valuable data for features which were later incorporated into the design of other large aircraft such as the Boeing B-29 and Convair B-36.

The XB-19A made its last flight on August 17, 1946, when it was flown from Wright Field to Davis-Monthan Field in Arizona and placed in storage. It was scrapped there in June of 1949. However, its nose section somehow ended up in a scrap yard on Alameda Street in Los Angeles, and was still visible there as late as 1955. It is too bad that this aircraft could not have been saved.

Specification of Douglas XB-19:

Four Wright R-3350-5 eighteen-cylinder air-cooled radials rated at 2000 hp each for takeoff and 1500 hp at 15,700 feet. Maximum speed 224 mph at 15,700 feet. Cruising speed 135 mph. Initial climb rate 650 feet per minute. Service ceiling 23,000 feet. Normal range 5200 miles, maximum range 7710 miles. Weights: 86,000 pounds empty, 140,000 pounds loaded, 162,000 pounds maximum. Dimensions: wingspan 212 feet, length 132 feet 4 inches, height 42 feet, wing area 4285 square feet. The internal bomb bay could accommodate eight 200-pound, 16 1100-pounds, or 30 600-pound bombs. Ten underwing racks could accommodate bombs of up to 2000 pounds in weight for short-range missions, for a maximum bomb capacity of 37,100 pounds. Defensive armament consisted of two 37-mm cannon, six 0.30 and five 0.50-in machine guns, distributed as follows: one 37-mm cannon and one 0.30-inch machine gun in each of the nose and forward dorsal turrets, one 0.5-inch machine gun in the tail position, rear dorsal turret, ventral turret, and port and starboard positions. One 0.30-inch machine gun was fitted on each side of the bombardier's position and on each side of the fuselage below the tailplane.

Specification of Douglas XB-19A:

Four 2600 hp Allison V-3420-11 twenty-four cylinder liquid cooled engines. Maximum speed 265 mph at 20,000 feet. Cruising speed 185 mph. Service ceiling 39,000 feet. Normal range 4200 miles Weights: 92,400 pounds empty, 140,230 pounds loaded. Dimensions: wingspan 212 feet, length 132 feet 4 inches, height 42 feet, wing area 4285 square feet.


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## Gnomey (Oct 5, 2010)

Good stuff, keep it coming.


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## gekho (Oct 6, 2010)

More Pics


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## gekho (Oct 6, 2010)

The Douglas B-18, which had been designed to meet a US Army Air Corps requirement of 1934 for a high-performance medium bomber, was clearly not in the same league as the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, which had been built to the same specification. Figures highlight the facts: 350 B-18s were procured in total, by comparison with almost 13,000 B-17s. In an attempt to rectify the shortcomings of their DB-1 design, Douglas developed in 1938 an improved version and the proposal seemed sufficiently attractive for the US Army to award a contract for 38 of these aircraft under the designation B-23 and with the name Dragon.

Although the overall configuration was similar to that of the earlier aircraft, when examined in detail it was seen to be virtually a new design. Wing span was increased, the fuselage was entirely different and of much improved aerodynamic form, and the tail unit had a much higher vertical fin and rudder. Landing gear was the same retractable tailwheel type, but the engine nacelles had been extended so that when the main units were lowered in flight they were faired by the nacelle extensions and created far less drag. Greatly improved performance was expected from these refinements, plus the provision of 60 per cent more power by the use of two Wright R-2600-3 Cyclone 14 engines. An innovation was the provision of a tail gun position, this being the first US bomber to introduce such a feature.


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## gekho (Oct 6, 2010)

First flown on 27 July 1939, the B-23s were all delivered to the US Army during that year. Early evaluation had shown that performance and flight characteristics were disappointing. Furthermore, information received from the European theatre during 1940 made it clear that development would be unlikely to result in range, bombload and armament capabilities to compare with the bomber aircraft then in service with the combatant nations, or already beginning to emerge in the USA. As a result these aircraft saw only limited service in a patrol capacity along the US Pacific coastline before being relegated to training duties. During 1942 about 15 of these aircraft were converted to serve as utility transports under the designation UC-67, and some of the remainder were used for a variety of purposes including engine testbeds, glider towing experiments and weapons evaluation. 

Following the end of World War II many surplus B-23s and UC-67s were acquired by civil operators for conversion as corporate aircraft. The majority were modified by Pan American's Engineering Department, equipped to accommodate a crew of two and passengers. Some of them remained in civil use for about 30 years.


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## gekho (Oct 7, 2010)

With over 18,000 aircraft built the Consolidated B-24 Liberator was produced in even greater numbers than the other famous Second World War US bomber, the B-17 Flying Fortress. The Liberator gained a distinguished war record with its operations in the European, Pacific, African and Middle Eastern theaters. One of its main virtues was a long operating range, which led to it being used also for other duties including maritime patrol, antisubmarine work, reconnaissance, tanker, cargo and personnel transport. Winston Churchill used one as his own transport aircraft.

The aircraft was originally designed to a United States Army Air Corps requirement, and the prototype first flew on December 29,1939. Meanwhile, orders for production aircraft had also been received from Great Britain and France, who had tried desperately to build up and modernize their air forces for the war which had been inevitable. However, the Liberator was not available to France by the time of its capitulation, and French-ordered aircraft were diverted to Britain.

Among the first Liberators to go into British service were six used as transatlantic airliners with BOAC, while others went to Coastal Command as patrol aircraft. As production in the States continued to expand, taking in other manufacturers to help build the type, versions appeared with varying armament and other differences. Liberators also found their way into the United States Navy, the Royal Canadian Air Force and the armed forces of other countries. In Europe, Bomber Command of the Royal Air Force concentrated mainly on night bombing, while the United States Army Air Force operated mainly as a day bombing force. On December 4,1942 US Liberators of the 9th Air Force attacked Naples, recording their first raid on Italy, followed on July 19,1943 by the first raid on Rome by 270 Liberators and B-17 Flying Fortresses of the USAAF casualties among the US day bombing forces were high, until the perfection of formation flying and the support of long-range escort fighters. This was well illustrated on August 17,1943 when 59 bombers were shot down while attacking German ball-bearing factories, followed by 60 losses in a similar raid in October. In March 1944 a large force of US Liberators and B-17 Flying Fortresses attacked Berlin in daylight, the first of several such raids.

Incredibly, Liberators are recorded as having dropped over 630,000 tons of bombs, while several thousand enemy aircraft fell to their guns. Some were converted to carry the first US air-to-surface, radar-guided missile, the Bat, and in April 1945 a Bat sank a Japanese naval destroyer. After the war the Liberator continued to serve with the United States forces, notably as an air rescue and weather reconnaissance aircraft with the Coast Guard in the 1950s. The first major external change of the B-24 lines appeared on the twenty-sixth B-24G, when a new nose was designed to include a power turret containing two .50-cal. guns for frontal protection. This most effective forward arrangement increased the length to 67 feet 2 inches. The Sperry ball turret became standard equipment on this and following models.


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## gekho (Oct 7, 2010)

The B-24J Liberator was the variation produced in the largest quantity; a total of 6,678 being constructed. It was so similar to the G and H models that the latter were modified to become B-24Js by changing the autopilot and bombsight. Armed with twin .50-cal. Brownings in the nose, upper, lower ball, waist, and tail turrets, a total of 5,200 rounds of ammunition were carried. The top speed of 290 mph was provided by four Pratt Whitney supercharged R-1830-65's with 1,200 hp each. Cruise was 215 mph and landing speed was 95 mph with its Fowler flaps. Rate of climb was 1,025 feet per minute, and service ceiling was 28,000 feet. Empty, the B-24J weighed 36,500 pounds and grossed out at 56,000 pounds. Maximum range extended 3,700 miles. The Wing span was 110 feet; wing area, 1,048 square feet; length, 67 feet 2 inches; height, 18 feet. Fuel capacity was 3,614 gallons.

The 1,667 B-24Ls and 2,593 B-24M models varied only slightly in armament fixtures from their predecessors. Several B-24s were used as transports under the Air Force designation of C-87 Liberator Express and a few became C-109 fuel tankers.


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## gekho (Oct 7, 2010)

Liberator 11 (LB-30). Had no B-24 counterpart (LT3-30 designation signifies Liberator built to British specifications). Four Pratt Whitney R-1830-S3C4G engines with two speed superchargers and driving Curtiss Electric full-feathering propellers. Armed with eleven .303 in. guns, eight in two Boulton Paul power turrets, one dorsal and one tail, one in the nose and two in waist positions.

XB-24B. The first B-24 to be fitted with turbo-supercharged engines, self-sealing tanks, armor, and other modern refinements.

B-24C. Four Pratt Whitney R-1830-41 engines with exhaust-driven turbo-superchargers. Armament augmented to include two power-driven turrets, one dorsal and one tail, each fitted with two .50-cal. guns. In addition, there was one .50-cal. nose gun and two similar guns in waist positions.

B-24D (PB4Y-l and Liberator B.III and G.R.V.). Four Pratt Whitney R-1830-43 engines. Armament further increased by the addition of two further nose guns and one tunnel gun, making a total of ten .50-cal. guns. Fuel capacity increased by the addition of auxiliary self-sealing fuel cells in the outer wings and there was provision for long-range tanks in the bomb-bay. The first model to be equipped to carry two 4,000 lb. bombs on external racks, one under each inner wing. The Liberator G.R.V. was used as a long-range general reconnaissance type by RAF Coastal Command. Fuel capacity was increased at the expense of amour and tank protection. Armament consisted of one .303-in. or .50-cal. gun in the nose, two .50-cal. guns in the upper turret, four .303 -in. or two .50-cal. guns in waist positions and four .303-in. guns in a Boulton Paul tail turret. Bombs or depth charges 5,400 lbs.

B-24E (Liberator IV). Similar to B-24D except for minor equipment details. Built by Consolidated (Forth Worth), Ford (Willow Run) and Douglas (Tulsa).

B-24F. An experimental version of the B-24E fitted with exhaust-heated surface anti-icing equipment on wings and tail surfaces.

B-24G, B-24H and B-24J (PB4Y-l and Liberator B.VI and G.R.VI). Similar except for details of equipment and minor differences associated with different manufacturing methods. B-24J built by North American (Dallas). B-24H built by Consolidated (Forth Worth), Ford (Willow Run) andDouglas (Tulsa). B-24J built by Consolidated (San Diego and Fort Worth), Ford, Douglas and North American (Dallas). Four Pratt Whitney R-1830-43 or 65 engines. Armament further improved to include four two-gun turrets, in nose and tail and above and below the fuselage (details below). Later models of the B-24J were fitted with exhaust-heated anti-icing equipment. The Liberator G.R.VI was used as a long-range general reconnaissance type by RAF Coastal Command. Armament consisted of six .50-cal. guns, two each in nose and dorsal turrets and in waist positions, and four .303-in. guns in a Boulton Paul tail turret. Bombs or depth charges 4,500 lbs. (2,045 kg.).

XB-24K. The first Liberator to be fitted with a single fin and rudder. An experimental model only.

B-24L. Similar to the B-24J but fitted with a new tail turret with two manually-operated .50-cal. guns. The two guns had a wider field of fire and the new turret, which was designed by the Consolidated Vultee Modification Center at Tucson permitted a saving of 200 lbs. (91 kg.) in weight.

B-24M. Same as the B-24L except fitted with a new Motor Products two-gun power-operated tail turret. A B-24M was the 6,725th and last Liberator built by Consolidated Vultee at San Diego.

B-24N. The first production single-tail Liberator. Fitted with new nose and tail gun mountings. Only a few were built before the Liberator was withdrawn from production on May 31,1945.

CB-24. Numbers of B-24 bombers withdrawn from operational flying in the European Theater of Operations were stripped of all armament and adapted to various duties, including utility transport, etc. Painted in distinctive colors and patterns, they were also used as Group Identity Aircraft to facilitate the assembly of large numbers of bombers into their battle formations through and above overcast weather. All these carried the designation CB-24.

TB-24 (formerly AT-22). A conversion of the B-24D for specialized advanced training duties. All bombing equipment and armament removed and six stations provided in the fuselage for the instruction of air engineers in powerplant operation, essentially for such aircraft as the Boeing B-29 and the Consolidated Vultee B-32, which are the first large combat aircraft in the USAAF to have separate completely equipped engineer's stations.

C-109. A conversion of the B-24 into a fuel-carrying aircraft. The first version, modified by the USAAF had metal tanks in the nose, above the bomb-bay and in the bomb-bay holding a total of 2,900 US gallons. Standard fuel transfer system for loading and unloading through single hose union in side of fuselage. Inert gas injected into tanks as fuel pumped out to eliminate danger of explosion. Developed for transporting fuel from India to China to supply the needs of the B-29s operating therefrom. Later version modified by the Glenn L. Martin Company, fitted with collapsible Mareng fuel cells.


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## Frantish (Oct 7, 2010)

gekho said:


> More pics



This is one amazing photo, especially when you look at the site today!


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## Wayne Little (Oct 9, 2010)

Interesting stuff mate!8)


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## gekho (Oct 10, 2010)

More pics


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## gekho (Oct 10, 2010)

More Pics


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## gekho (Oct 11, 2010)

More pics


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## gekho (Oct 11, 2010)

More pics


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## Matt308 (Oct 11, 2010)

I've always wondered... did US bombers have automated bomb racks with different "release modes" wherein you could have all of your bombs drop as closely spaced as possible versus a more time spaced release for a string? Or was this just bombadier skill in hitting the release buttons?

I wonder because the bomb racks could accomodate different bomb weights in a typical loadout that differed between 250lbs- 2000lbs. And you often see different dispense patterns.


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## Airframes (Oct 11, 2010)

Nice pics.
Yes Matt, they did. Not sure of the exact control set-up, but it was similar to the RAF system, with salvo, ripple, selected weapons station, and jettison. On the RAF bomb selector panel, there was a series of switches to select and arm each station, and a switch to select the release method. Next to this was a semi-circular dial with timing settings in seconds, with a simple pointer which was set against the desired setting for, say, ripple, maybe at say two second intervals, from station 1 to whatever, or the reverse, or whatever sequence combination had been selected on the selector panel.


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## Matt308 (Oct 11, 2010)

Terrry, you da man. Micdrow probably has a diagram. Perhaps he can point it out to me. Much thanks, buddy.


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## gekho (Oct 12, 2010)

More pics


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## gekho (Oct 12, 2010)

More pics


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## Airframes (Oct 12, 2010)

You're welcome Matt. I have a pic showing the unit in a B24, although it's not that clear what part is what, and I have an actual Selector Panel from a Lancaster here at home. I can post, or e-mail, pics if you need them.


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## gekho (Oct 13, 2010)

More pics


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## gekho (Oct 13, 2010)

More pics


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## Capt. Vick (Oct 13, 2010)

gekho said:


> More pics



I like the B-17/B-24 hybrid! (Or is it a B-24/B-17 hybrid?)


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## fnqvmuch (Oct 13, 2010)

Capt. Vick said:


> I like the B-17/B-24 hybrid! (Or is it a B-24/B-17 hybrid?)



meaning 'Consolidated B-24 Liberator 008' ?
... yeah, i had another look just now and ... what is it with that one?
steven


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## michaelmaltby (Oct 13, 2010)

B-17 chin turret grafted onto the Lib?

MM


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## Airframes (Oct 13, 2010)

The chin turret and forward nose section too. I've got a side-on pic of it somewhere.


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## vikingBerserker (Oct 13, 2010)

IIRC they had grafted them together for some reason, just cannot remember why.


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## gekho (Oct 14, 2010)

The North American B-25 Mitchell was an American twin-engined medium bomber manufactured by North American Aviation. It was used by many Allied air forces, in every theater of World War II, as well as many other air forces after the war ended, and saw service across four decades. The B-25 was named in honor of General Billy Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. The B-25 is the only American military aircraft named after a specific person. By the end of its production, nearly 10,000 B-25s in numerous models had been built. These included a few limited variations, such as the United States Navy's and Marine Corps' PBJ-1 patrol bomber and the United States Army Air Forces' F-10 photo reconnaissance aircraft.

The B-25 was a descendant of the earlier XB-21 (North American-39) project of the mid-1930s. Experience gained in developing that aircraft was eventually used by North American in designing the B-25 (called the NA-40 by the company). One NA-40 was built, with several modifications later being done to test a number of potential improvements. These improvements included Wright R-2600 radial engines, which would become standard on the later B-25.

In 1939, the modified and improved NA-40B was submitted to the United States Army Air Corps for evaluation. This aircraft was originally intended to be an attack bomber for export to the United Kingdom and France, both of which had a pressing requirement for such aircraft in the early stages of World War II. However, those countries changed their minds, opting instead for the also-new Douglas DB-7 (later to be used by the US as the A-20 Havoc). Despite this loss of sales, the NA-40B re-entered the spotlight when the Army Air Corps evaluated it for use as a medium bomber. Unfortunately, the NA-40B was destroyed in a crash on 11 April 1939. Nonetheless, the type was ordered into production, along with the Army's other new medium bomber, the Martin B-26 Marauder.

An improvement of the NA-40B, dubbed the NA-62, was the basis for the first actual B-25. Due to the pressing need for medium bombers by the Army, no experimental or service-test versions were built. Any necessary modifications were made during production runs, or to existing aircraft at field modification centers around the world. A significant change in the early days of B-25 production was a re-design of the wing. In the first nine aircraft, a constant-dihedral wing was used, in which the wing had a consistent, straight, slight upward angle from the fuselage to the wing tip. This design caused stability problems, and as a result, the dihedral angle was nullified on the outboard wing sections, giving the B-25 its slightly gull wing configuration. Less noticeable changes during this period included an increase in the size of the tail fins and a decrease in their inward cant. A total of 6,608 B-25s were built at North American's Fairfax Airport plant in Kansas City, Kansas.A descendant of the B-25 was the North American XB-28, meant to be a high-altitude version of the B-25. Despite this premise, the actual aircraft bore little resemblance to the Mitchell. It had much more in common with the B-26 Marauder.


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## gekho (Oct 14, 2010)

The B-25 first gained fame as the bomber used in the 18 April 1942 Doolittle Raid, in which 16 B-25Bs led by the legendary Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle, attacked mainland Japan four months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The mission gave a much-needed lift in spirits to the Americans, and alarmed the Japanese who had believed their home islands were inviolable by enemy troops. While the amount of actual damage done was relatively minor, it forced the Japanese to divert troops for the home defense for the remainder of the war. The raiders took off from the carrier USS Hornet and successfully bombed Tokyo and four other Japanese cities without loss. However, 15 subsequently crash-landed en route to recovery fields in Eastern China. These losses were the result of the task force being spotted by Japanese fishing vessels forcing the bombers to take off 170 mi (270 km) early, fuel exhaustion, stormy nighttime conditions with zero visibility, and lack of electronic homing aids at the recovery bases. Only one landed intact; it came down in the Soviet Union, where its five-man crew was interned and the aircraft confiscated. Of the 80 aircrew, 69 survived their historic mission and eventually made it back to American lines.

Following a number of additional modifications, including the addition of Plexiglas windows for the navigator and radio operator, heavier nose armament, and deicing and anti-icing equipment, the B-25C was released to the Army. This was the second mass-produced version of the Mitchell, the first being the lightly-armed B-25B used by the Doolittle Raiders. The B-25C and B-25D differed only in location of manufacture: -Cs at Inglewood, California, -Ds at Kansas City, Kansas. A total of 3,915 B-25Cs and -Ds were built by North American during World War II.

Although the B-25 was originally designed to bomb from medium altitudes in level flight, it was used frequently in the Southwest Pacific theater (SWPA) on treetop-level strafing and parafrag (parachute-retarded fragmentation bombs) missions against Japanese airfields in New Guinea and the Philippines. These heavily-armed Mitchells, field-modified at Townsville, Australia, by Major Paul I. "Pappy" Gunn and North American tech rep Jack Fox, were also used on strafing and skip-bombing missions against Japanese shipping trying to re-supply their land-based armies. Under the leadership of Lieutenant General George C. Kenney, B-25s of the Fifth and Thirteenth Air Forces devastated Japanese targets in the SWPA from 1942 to 1945, and played a significant role in pushing the Japanese back to their home islands. B-25s were also used with devastating effect in the Central Pacific, Alaska, North Africa, Mediterranean and China-Burma-India (CBI) theaters.

Because of the urgent need for hard-hitting strafer aircraft, a version dubbed the B-25G was developed, in which the standard-length transparent nose and the bombardier were replaced by a shorter solid nose containing two fixed .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns and a 75 mm (2.95 in) M4 cannon, one of the largest weapons fitted to an aircraft, similar to the experimental British Mosquito Mk. XVIII, and German Ju 88P heavy cannon carrying aircraft. The cannon was manually loaded and serviced by the navigator, who was able to perform these operations without leaving his crew station just behind the pilot. This was possible due to the shorter nose of the G-model and the length of the M4, which allowed the breech to extend into the navigator's compartment.


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## gekho (Oct 14, 2010)

The B-25G's successor, the B-25H, had even more firepower. The M4 gun was replaced by the lighter T13E1, designed specifically for the aircraft. The 75 mm (2.95 in) gun fired at a muzzle velocity of 2,362 ft/s (about 720 m/s). Due to its low rate of fire (approximately four rounds could be fired in a single strafing run) and relative ineffectiveness against ground targets, as well as substantial recoil, the 75 mm (2.95 in) gun was sometimes removed from both G and H models and replaced with two additional .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns as a field modification. The -H also mounted four fixed forward-firing .50 (12.7 mm) machine guns in the nose, four more fixed ones in forward-firing cheek blisters, two more in the top turret, one each in a pair of new waist positions, and a final pair in a new tail gunner's position. Company promotional material bragged the B-25H could "bring to bear 10 machine guns coming and four going, in addition to the 75 mm cannon, a brace of eight rockets and 3,000 lb (1,360 kg) of bombs."

The B-25H also featured a redesigned cockpit area, with the top turret moved forward to the navigator's compartment (thus requiring the addition of the waist and tail gun positions), and a heavily modified cockpit designed to be operated by a single pilot, the co-pilot's station and controls deleted, and the seat cut down and used by the navigator/cannoneer, the radio operator being moved to the aft compartment, operating the waist guns.[3] A total of 1,400 B-25Gs and B-25Hs were built.

The final version of the Mitchell, the B-25J, looked much like the earlier B, C and D, having reverted to the longer nose. The less-than-successful 75 mm (2.95 in) cannon was deleted on the J model. Instead, 800 of this version were built with a solid nose containing eight .50 (12.7 mm) machine guns, while other J-models featured the earlier "greenhouse" style nose containing the bombardier's position. Regardless of the nose style used, all J-models also included two .50 in (12.7 mm) guns in a "fuselage package" located directly under the pilot's station, and two more such guns in an identical package just under the co-pilot's compartment. The solid-nose B-25J variant carried an impressive total of 18 .50 in (12.7 mm) guns: eight in the nose, four in under-cockpit packages, two in an upper turret, two in the waist, and a pair in the tail. No other bomber of World War II carried as many guns. However, the first 555 B-25Js (the B-25J-1-NC production block) were delivered without the fuselage package guns, because it was discovered muzzle blast from these guns was causing severe stress in the fuselage; this was cured with heavier fuselage skin patches, while later production runs returned these guns, they were often removed as a field modification for the same reason. In all, 4,318 B-25Js were built.

The B-25 was a safe and forgiving aircraft to fly. With an engine out, 60° banking turns into the dead engine were possible, and control could be easily maintained down to 145 mph (230 km/h). However, the pilot had to remember to maintain engine-out directional control at low speeds after take off with rudder - if this was attempted with ailerons, the aircraft would snap out of control. The tricycle landing gear made for excellent visibility while taxiing. The only significant complaint about the B-25 was the extremely high noise level produced by its engines; as a result, many pilots eventually suffered from various degrees of hearing loss.[5] The high noise level was due to design and space restrictions in the engine cowlings which resulted in the exhaust "stacks" protruding directly from the cowling ring and partly covered by a small triangular fairing. This directed exhaust and noise directly at the pilot and crew compartments. Crew members and operators on the airshow circuit frequently comment that "the B-25 is the fastest way to turn aviation fuel directly into noise". Many B-25's now in civilian ownership have been modified with exhaust rings that direct the exhaust through the outboard bottom section of the cowling.


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## Gnomey (Oct 14, 2010)

Good stuff!


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## Matt308 (Oct 14, 2010)

Those are great pics. Worthy of this forum. Thanks.


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## vikingBerserker (Oct 14, 2010)

Is the 3rd pic down post 91 showing a B-25 packing 2 x 75mm???


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## gekho (Oct 15, 2010)

More pics


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## gekho (Oct 15, 2010)

More pics


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## Wildcat (Oct 15, 2010)

Does anyone know what unit "The nip clipper" is from? It appears to have some Aussies in the crew.


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## Wayne Little (Oct 15, 2010)

Great set of pics....!!


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## gekho (Oct 21, 2010)

More pics


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## gekho (Oct 21, 2010)

More pics


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## gekho (Oct 21, 2010)

Two B-25 Mitchell attack a japanese destroyer in Formosa, april 1945.


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## looney (Oct 21, 2010)

In the picture with B25 112800 it has a glass tail what was it for?


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## Airframes (Oct 21, 2010)

On this model of the B25 (B25C/D), it was just an observer's position. On the 'Doolittle' raid, false guns, supposedly broom handles, were fitted into the perspex blister, to give the appearance of a gun position. On the later models, such as the B25J, a proper tail gun position was incorporated, with a raised perspex cupola.


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## gekho (Oct 22, 2010)

The B-26 Marauder is one of the most recognizable planes produced by the Glenn L. Martin Company. Its origins are rooted in the development the attack bomber in 1938 and 1939. The plane was designed to meet specifications outlined by the Army Air Corps for a new medium bomber. The Martin design, Model 179, incorporated many advanced design features, in many cases surpassing the requirements of the competition. Just weeks before fighting broke out in Europe, the Model 179 was chosen the winner of the contract. Originally awarded a contract for 201 planes, another 990 were ordered before the B-26 had even flown as part of President Roosevelt's "50,000-plane" program in the fall of 1940. November 25, 1940 saw the first flight of the B-26. After reviewing the performance of the aircraft, the British placed an order for 459 additional planes. It was the Royal Air Force (RAF) who gave the plane the name Marauder, in place of the company proposed name – the “Martian.” The company began delivering aircraft to the Air Corps in February 1941, with the RAF not receiving planes until 1942.

In response to the coming war, the B-26 had been rushed from the drawing board to the production line. This led to many early problems with the B-26. The B-26 had high take-off and landing speeds due to the high wing loads of the aircraft. This resulted in several training accidents with pilots at MacDill Field, where new bomber groups trained, nicknaming the plane “the widow maker.” In response to these early problems, a number of steps were taken, including better trainers and a number of design improvements. The Marauder was initially deployed to the Pacific, but long take-off and landing distances hampered its effectiveness. Bomber groups we shifted to North Africa and Europe where the B-26 eventually experience greater success. Early missions in Europe however did not go well. One famous disaster in particular saw a planed mission to knock out a power station in Ijmuiden, Holland end disastrously with ten bombers were lost and one aborted. These types of incidents led war planners in Europe to order a halt to the low level bombing missions that had been effective in Japan. The change to higher altitude runs, adding fighter escort and a design that proved extremely resistant to anti-aircraft fire led to far fewer losses. At the end of the war, the Army Air Force lost fewer Marauders than any other bomber. In May 1944, “Hell’s Belle II” was the first Marauder to reach the 100 mission milestone.

As the war ended, so did the life of the Marauder. The Air Force quickly moved to take the planes out of service. By the end of 1948 all of the Marauders had been removed from service. Few of the 5,266 Marauders that were built remain, most of these are held in museum collections.


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## gekho (Oct 22, 2010)

The 22nd Bomb Group was the first American air group to receive the B-26, this at Langley Field in February of 1941. This initial group consisted of B-26 and B-26A models. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the official declaration of war on the Empire by America, the 22nd was the only group with B-26's in stock and were expectedly pressed into service in the South West Pacific. The 22nd BG arrived in Brisbane, Australia after a short stop in Muroc, California, becoming part of the US Fifth Air Force, and was soon put to task with engaging Japanese targets beginning with Rabaul on April 5th, 1942. Other attacks followed and a flight of four B-26A's took part in the Battle of Midway, providing an offensive punch via torpedo strikes on enemy vessels. Despite its usefulness, the North American B-25 Mitchell - a similar twin-engine medium bomber - was finding more success and therefore more use in the theater than the B-26's. The 22nd BG was eventually upgraded with B-26B models by May of 1942. These improved Marauders allowed for continued use of the type that even included actions in along the Aleutian Island chain in 1942. During its first year of action, B-26's were generally restricted to the Pacific Theater but eventually saw extended use - and better results - in Europe and the Mediterranean.

Marauders were used in anger during the Operation Torch landings in North Africa. In this action, Marauders proved their worth, flying with bomb group elements of the 12th Air Force. The B-26 under the RAF Middle East Command in North Africa were noted by their designation of Marauder Mk I (B-26A), Marauder Mk IA (B-26B), Marauder Mk II (B-26C/B-26F) and Marauder Mk III (B-26G). The RAF, which fielded no more than two complete squadrons of Marauders (No. 14 and No. 39) received a batch of 52 Mk I and Mk IA models while totals of Mk II's and Mk III's topped 250 and 150 respectively.

American B-26 units arrived in England by March of 1943, Though results were initially poor with low-level bombing runs, the type saw new life in medium- and high-altitude attacks. In one such case, the complete 322nd Bomber Group flying at low-level was eliminated by ground and aircraft fire in an attempted strike on Ijmuiden, forcing the hand of Allied warplanners to make changes in their approach when utilizing the potent B-26. After adoption of higher-flying bombing techniques, the B-26 was repositioned as a proven and valued stalwart of the Allied bombing campaigns throughout the rest of the war in Europe though phasing out of the type began in 1945. In the end, the B-26 proved to be a fitting addition to the Allied air arsenal, posting an impeccable service record. B-26's went on to have the lowest combat loss rate of any American aircraft in the conflict, owing something to its stellar design but more to the crews who flew her through her 110,000 sorties.


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## Wayne Little (Oct 22, 2010)

Excellent shots....


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## Airframes (Oct 22, 2010)

Great pics, thanks for posting.


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## gekho (Oct 23, 2010)

More pics


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## gekho (Oct 23, 2010)

More pics


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## Wayne Little (Oct 23, 2010)

keep 'em coming....8)


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## vikingBerserker (Oct 23, 2010)

Excellent!


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## Aaron Brooks Wolters (Oct 23, 2010)

vikingBerserker said:


> Is the 3rd pic down post 91 showing a B-25 packing 2 x 75mm???



David, I think it's just on 75mm and two dummies. In post 97, fourth picture down may give and idea of what we are seeing.


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## gekho (Oct 24, 2010)

More pics


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## gekho (Oct 24, 2010)

More pics


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## Shortround6 (Oct 24, 2010)

Aaron Brooks Wolters said:


> David, I think it's just on 75mm and two dummies. In post 97, fourth picture down may give and idea of what we are seeing.



They may be covers for the .50 cal guns to keep debris out of them on the ground.


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## michaelmaltby (Oct 24, 2010)

Can anyone tell me 'who' and 'how' the two pairs of cheek-mounted 50's were aimed and fired - same I guess as with the B-25.

Always wanted to know. 

MM


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## vikingBerserker (Oct 24, 2010)

Thanks fellas!


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## gekho (Oct 25, 2010)

More pics


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## gekho (Oct 25, 2010)

More pics


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## gekho (Oct 25, 2010)

The XB-28 (North American model NA-63) was originally conceived as a high altitude version of the B-25 medium bomber. The resulting design, while maintaining the same overall configuration of the Mitchell (with the exception of a single vertical tail instead of B-25's twin tail), was visually more reminiscent of the B-26 Marauder. Other differences in the XB-28 design included a pressurized fuselage and three remote-controlled twin .50 caliber gun turrets (upper, lower, and tail). Two prototypes were ordered in February 1940, with the first flight taking place on April 26, 1942. After testing of the two prototypes, the project was canceled with no further examples being built. The reason for this, according to the USAF archives, was that "although the XB-28 was a successful design, the aircraft never went into production. One reason for this was high altitude bombing was too susceptible to errors caused by wind, cloud cover, etc. especially in the Pacific Theater of Operations. Another was the increasing effectiveness of medium bombers at low and medium levels along with improved tactics. Finally, the performance gains were not considered great enough to interrupt production of proven combat models." The second prototype XB-28 was built as a high altitude photo reconnaissance aircraft, and was designated XB-28A, but like the first XB-28 prototype it was the only one of its kind.


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## Wildcat (Oct 26, 2010)

Sweet looking bird.


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## Gnomey (Oct 26, 2010)

Good stuff!


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## vikingBerserker (Oct 26, 2010)

That is nice looking.


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## gekho (Oct 27, 2010)

As early as 1934, Boeing began working on several prototypes (Model 322, 333A, 333B, 334A, and 341) with features that ultimately came together in the B-29, among them: a pressurized cabin, tricycle landing gear, long range under heavy bomb loads, etc.. As the war in Europe boiled, the Army issued a specification for the Very Long Range (VLR) "superbomber" in January 1940. It called for a speed of 400 MPH, a 5333 mile range, and a bomb load of 2000 pounds delivered at 2666 miles. With the work it had been doing, Boeing was at an advantage over the other competitors: Consolidated, Douglas, and Lockheed.

Even before the prototype was built, the Army ordered a second one, and then in the wake of Pearl Harbor, ordered a thousand more. Boeing dedicated its Renton factory to the B-29; the Glenn Martin Company started production in Omaha. To meet the specs of the VLR bomber noted above, Boeing designed the Model 345 - a four engine bomber with tricycle landing gear (folding into the huge engine nacelles), five gun turrets, and weighing almost 100,000 pounds. Submitted in May, 1940, the Model 345 won an Army to develop it into the XB-29 prototype. . By August, Douglas and Lockheed had dropped out, and the Army issued a contract to Consolidated for the XB-32, as a backup to Boeing's favored XB-29.

During 1941, the Army increased its order, from three prototypes, to fourteen, then 250, and then (after Pearl Harbor) 1500. All before the first prototype had flown! With the country on a wartime footing, three other factories were drawn into B-29 production (in addition to Boeing's own Wichita, Kansas plant): Bell Aircraft's factory in Marietta, Georgia; Glenn Martin in Omaha; Boeing-Renton, and GM's Fisher Body plant in Cleveland.


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## gekho (Oct 27, 2010)

The XB-29 had wings that were as small as possible, with large radial engines outside them. While crew space fore and aft had to be pressurized, the bomb bays (with their huge doors) could not be. To deal with this problem, Boeing linked the front and rear pressurized sections with a sealed tunnel. The relatively small wings meant low drag but also very high wing-loading, double the desirable limit of 1940. Four Wright Cyclone 3350 engines with two turbosuperchargers each were able to handle the challenge. Problems like preventing guns and propeller mechanisms from freezing at high altitudes abounded. A very strong ring section connected the two wings and separated the two bomb bays.

At altitudes of 30,000 feet, manned gun turrets were impractical and Sperry developed retractable, periscopically directed, electrically powered turrets for the B-29. The normal crew of twelve included a pilot, co-pilot, bombardier, navigator, flight engineer, radio operator, radar operator, and five gunners. The first seven guys occupied the forward pressurized cabin. Four gunners were in the rear cabin, and the poor tail gunner was trapped in his own little pressurized pocket in the tail for the duration of the flight.

Boeing test pilot Edmund T. "Eddie" Allen made the first XB-29 flight in September, 1942. In the next few months, the engines' tendency to catch fire severely limited test flight time. In 23 test flights, they went through 16 engines, in only 27 hours of flight time. Under the urgent demands of war, a second prototype rolled out in December, 1942, and the project moved forward, unslowed even by the death of Eddie Allen and 30 others in a February crash. By mid-1943, the Wichita plant started to deliver the fourteen YB-29 service test aircraft to the 58th Bomb Wing. In the YB-29's, Sperry's turrets were replaced by non-retractable GE types, operated with computerized gunsights. The GE turrets could be operated with on eless gunner, but their demands for electrical power increased the weight of the aircraft to 105,000 pounds. 

Two-thirds of the Superfortresses built were B-29's, with no letter suffix, just B-29. 2,513 of this variant were built: 1620 by Boeing-Wichita, 536 by Martin-Omaha, and 357 by Bell-Marietta. Powered by four 2200 hp Wright R-3350-23 radial engines driving 16-foot, 7-inch four-bladed propellers, the B-29 could cruise at 342 MPH at 30,000 feet. Over long distances, its economical cruising speed was 220 MPH at 25,000 feet. In September, 1943, the first B-29's rolled off the assembly line at Wichita, followed by deliveries from the other plants over the next several months. A few early B-29's were camouflage painted; the rest were left in natural metal finish. Thirty fuel tanks (in the wings and the bomb bay) carried over 9400 gallons of gasoline. Radar-assisted navigation and bombing sets helped the Superforts get to their targets and drop their bombs accurately.

Like most other bombers, the B-29's development was marked by an increase in defensive firepower, particularly from frontal attacks. In the B-29's case, the forward dorsal turret machine guns were increased from two to four. However, in the tail, the original 20mm cannon was removed, because its shells' trajectory was so different from the 50 caliber machine guns' that it made aiming difficult.


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## gekho (Oct 27, 2010)

After the Casablanca Conference in early 1943, President Roosevelt committed the United States to a heavy bombing campaign against Japan, at the earliest possible date. The B-29 was the only bomber with the range and payload needed; thus Roosevelt constantly hammered General Hap Arnold to deliver the big bomber. As plans for Operation Matterhorn took shape, they envisaged basing the B-29's in eastern India, flying them over "the Hump," staging/refueling at Chengtu in central China, and then bombing Japanese cities.

But the bombers weren't ready, not in January, 1994 as Roosevelt had hoped. Training the crews in the complex new aircraft proved to be a major challenge. By the beginning of 1944, only 73 pilots had qualified for the B-29, and although 97 B-29s had been produced, only 16 were combat ready. Engine fires continued to be a problem and the radar equipment proved to be very touchy. While the USAAF had set up the XX Bomber Command to take over the B-29 program, by early, 1944 it was still a shambles, with most planes stuck at the modification centers. In March, Major General B.E. Meyer was appointed to head up the modification program, and thus commenced "the Battle of Kansas." Mobilizing the vast industrial resources of the United States, workers were brought in to work round the clock, outdoors in the freezing Kansas winter weather if necessary, to get some B-29's delivered. By mid April, they had turned over 150.

In April, 1944, B-29's began arriving at their bases in Bengal, India: Kharagpur, Chakulia, Piardoba, and Dudkhundi. At the same time, the 20th Air Force, an independent command, was established, largely to prevent local commanders like Stilwell and Chennault from diverting the B-29's away from their primary mission - bombing Japan. Engines continued to overheat and catch fire, a tendency exacerbated by the 115 degree heat of India. The engineers designed new baffles and cowl flaps to direct cooling air onto the overheated rear cylinders. In early April, the B-29's were blooded when six Ki-43 Hayabusa fighters jumped some that were flying fuel into Chengtu. By May, 130 Superfortresses had reached India and the staging bases near Chengtu, China were usable, if barely so. But forwarding the needed fuel and bombs to Chengtu over "the Hump" was hazardous and inefficient. 

On June 5, the Superforts made their first bombing attack, against the rail yards at Bangkok. Balky engines and bad weather conspired to cripple the mission. Only eighteen bombs hit the target. Not a good start. Washington continued to pressure General Wolfe, CO of XX Bomber Command, to attack Japan itself by the middle of the month. On the night of June 14-15, ninety-two B-29's took off from staging bases in China, to strike at the Imperial Iron and Steel Works at Yawata on Kyushu - a vital target that turned out a quarter of Japan's rolled steel. The diminishing number of bombers at each stage of the mission illustrates the problems inherent in Operation Matterhorn:

* 92 bombers left India.
* 79 reached the staging bases in China.
* 75 took off from the bases.
* 68 left China, the others aborted after take-off.
* 47 reached the target at Yawata.
* 15 bombed visually; 32 bombed by radar due to the weather.
* One bomb hit the target!

Despite the failure of the raid in material damage, the press hailed it as a great victory; it was the first American bombing raid to hit Japan since the Doolittle Raid in April, 1942. The Matterhorn raids continued. Eighteen bombers hit Japanes cities on July 7. Two days later, 72 Superforts were launched against a steel plant in Manchuria. More ineffective raids were staged in August.

General Curtis LeMay, only 38 years old, arrived on August 29, to head up XX Bomber Command. A cigar-chomping tough guy, LeMay shook things up. He increased training and mission frequency; he re-organized the flights into 12-plane boxes; he introduced the 'lead bomber' concept; and he re-organized the Bomb Groups. Raids continued through the fall, hampered by supply problems and more effective Japanese air defenses. By the end of 1944, 147 Superfortresses had been lost to enemy guns and to accidents. Operation Matterhorn wasn't working and it was phased out.


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## Gnomey (Oct 28, 2010)

Nice shots!


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## vikingBerserker (Oct 28, 2010)

Nice!


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## dahut (Oct 28, 2010)

Purely awesome stuff!

Thank YOU.


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## gekho (Oct 29, 2010)

U.S. military planners had realized quite early that the Marianas (Saipan, Tinian, and Guam), located about 1500 south of Tokyo would be useful bases from which to launch B-29 attacks against Japan. In the summer of 1944, the Marianas were secured and airfields were quickly built. XXI Bomber Command was organized for the Marianas B-29 operations. After the planes were brought in, the crews trained, and some preliminary raids, 111 Superforts bombed the Nakajima Aircraft Company's Musashi engine plant near Tokyo on November 20, 1944. Largely ineffective raids continued against the Musashi plant and the Mitsubishi engine plant at Nagoya through the end of the year. Once again the Joint Chiefs called in Curtis LeMay to take over. He had analyzed the Japanese economy and focused on its dependence on small cottage industries spread throughout the large cities. Since the previous afforts at high-level precision, daylight bombing of specific targets had failed, LeMay instead proposed to burn out the Japanese cities entirely, destroying the critical industries (and the civilian population) in the process. (Not exactly the way we wage war now, where every errant bomb that hits an Afghan camel must be accounted for.)

LeMay developed a radically different approach. First, the bombers would carry incendiary, rather than high explosive, bombs. To save fuel and maximize the bomb load, the guns were stripped out, the Superforts would fly at 5,000 (instead of 30,000) feet, and each plane would fly directly to the target (no more circling and joining up in formation). These allowed each Superfort to carry about seven tons of M69 incendiary bombs. Lastly, they would go at night, since precision was no longer required and because Japanese night fighter forces were not very good.

The results were devastating. On the night of March 9-10, 279 B-29's bombed Tokyo. A huge firestorm resulted, sixteen square miles of Tokyo were reduced to ashes and 84,000 Japanese were killed. In the next week, similar, but less destructive, results were obtained in Nagoya, Osaka, and Kobe. Only twenty B-29s were lost. XXI Bomber Command exhausted its supply of incendiaries for a while, but when resupplied in April continued the terrible raids with awesome fury. The industrial areas of Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Kawasaki, Kobe, and Yokohama were reduced to ashes. The aircraft engine factories (or their general areas) were hit again with incendiary bombing. By mid-April, Japanese aircraft engine manufacturing capability had been wiped out. The incendiary raids continued through June, reducing Japans' six largest cities to ashes. Kobe was so thoroughly gutted that it was removed from the target list. B-29 Hunters of the JAAF (Osprey Aviation Elite 5) by Koji Takaki, Henry Sakaida B-29 Hunters of the JAAF. More B-29's arrived in the Marianas, including those from the former XX Bomber Command and some B-29B's, specifically lightened for nighttime pathfinding. The Superfortress missions expanded to include mining the Inland Sea and firebombing 58 smaller cities. The Japanese fighter forces had been routed. Almost unopposed, the B-29's began dropping leaflets three days in advance of their incendiary raids, advising inhabitants of their city's impending destruction.


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## gekho (Oct 29, 2010)

Long before the incendiary raids began to devastate Japan, the United States had been developing the atomic bomb. The Manhattan Project, in highest secrecy during 1943 and 1944, built two such bombs, a plutonium bomb dubbed "Fat Man," and a uranium bomb, "Little Boy." The 509th Composite Group was charged with delivering the new bombs, in specially modified B-29's, each capable of carrying and releasing a 10,000 pound atomic bomb. Commanded by Colonel Paul W. Tibbets, Jr., the men of the 509th knew nothing of their proposed mission. Nonetheless, they trained for their secret mission at Wendover, Utah before shipping out to Tinian, where they endured a lot of ribbing from guys in other units, "Oh, yeah, the 509th is gonna win the war."

After the first successful test of an atomic bomb on July 16, 1945 at Alamogordo, New Mexico, planning accelerated, and the Allies were informed, although Soviet spies had already kept Stalin fully apprised of developments. On July 26th, the Potsdam Declaration, an ultimatum which promised prompt and utter destruction, was issued to the Japanese. Well aware of the huge casualties that the Allies would incur in an invasion of Japan and determined to shorten the war, President Truman gave General Carl Spaatz the go-ahead to drop the atomic bomb. "Fat Man" and "Little Boy" were delivered to Tinian by USS Indianapolis and by C-54 transport planes. On August 6, 1945, the Enola Gay dropped "Little Boy" on Hiroshima. 75,000 people died and almost 50,000 buildings were destroyed. (Read more about Tibbets, the Enola Gay, and this mission.)

The Allies had expected, or perhaps hoped, that Japan would surrender after suffering the effects of an atomic bomb. But the Japanese government could not commit itself to surrender so quickly. In part they did not understand what had happened; in Tokyo all that was immediately certain was that all communications with Hiroshima had stopped. While the Japanes cabinet debated, conventional B-29 raids continued, in ever increasing force. Three days later, with no response from the Japanese, we dropped "Fat Man" on Nagasaki. (Personally, I try to avoid second guessing, and I am convinced that dropping the atomic bomb was the right decision, and that it ultimately saved both American and Japanese lives. But I do wonder if we should have let a few more days pass before dropping that second one. I guess by August of 1945, we were tired of war.) But it worked. That day the Soviets declared war on Japan and invaded Manchuria. The Emperor ordered the government to surrender. He broadcast word of the surrender to the Japanese people on August 15, and it was signed on the decks of the USS Missouri on September 2, 1945. The B-29's last missions of the war consisted of mercy food drops to POW camps.


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## gekho (Oct 29, 2010)

More pics


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## Wildcat (Oct 29, 2010)

Love that last shot


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## Capt. Vick (Oct 29, 2010)

I always thought if we dropped pictures like the ones above, showing our economic might, over enemy territory the war might have been a little shorter...if even by 5 minutes.


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## gekho (Oct 29, 2010)

More pics


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## gekho (Oct 29, 2010)

More pics


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## gekho (Oct 29, 2010)

More pics


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## gekho (Oct 29, 2010)

More Pics


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## Matt308 (Oct 29, 2010)

Fantastic pics. Just fantastic. That pic with the #3 engine leaking like a sieve is powerful. Also the pick with the Ki-102? in a diving attack is in a book I have. I don't think its a Ki-102, so somebody correct me. Apparently the Superfort to the left in the pic has been hit and ultimately crashes. The other Superfort barely survives avoiding a collision.


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## Glider (Oct 29, 2010)

I admit my first thought was a Ki45 from which the Ki 102 was I believe developed. HAve to say that its a great photo and that Jap pilot did close the attack, full marks to him.


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## vikingBerserker (Oct 29, 2010)

Those are some great pics!

I think it's the K-45.


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## gekho (Oct 30, 2010)

The Consolidated B-32 Dominator (Consolidated Model 34) was a heavy bomber made for United States Army Air Forces during World War II, and has the distinction of being the last Allied aircraft to be engaged in combat during World War II. It was developed in parallel with the Boeing B-29 Superfortress as a fallback design should the Superfortress prove unsuccessful. It only reached units in the Pacific during the summer of 1945, and subsequently only saw limited combat operations against Japanese targets before the end of the war. Most of the extant orders of the B-32 were cancelled shortly thereafter and only 118 B-32s of all types were built.

The engineering development of the B-29 had been underway since mid-1938 when, in June 1940, the US Army Air Corps requested a similar design from Consolidated Aircraft Company in case of development difficulties with the B-29. The Consolidated Model 33 used to base its proposal was similar to the B-24 Liberator. Like the B-24 it was originally designed with twin fins and a large Davis-type wing, but with a longer, rounder fuselage and a rounded nose. The powerplants were to be four 2,200 horsepower (1,600 kW) Wright R-3350s, the same as specified for B-29s. The aircraft was designed to be pressurized, and have remote controlled retractable gun turrets with fourteen .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns. It was to have an estimated gross weight of 101,000 lb (46,000 kg). The first contract for two XB-32s was signed on 6 September 1940, the same day as the contract for the Boeing prototype XB-29.

The first XB-32-CO, AAF s/n 41-141, was constructed next to the Army Air Force (AAF) Base Tarrant Field Airdrome at the AAF aircraft plant NO. 4 just west of Fort Worth, Texas along the south side of Lake Worth. The Consolidated Vultee Bomber Plant assembly line was six months behind schedule, making its first flight on 7 September 1942. Due to problems with the pressurization system, the gun turrets and landing gear doors, these items were omitted on the first prototype. The aircraft had R-3350-13 engines inboard and R-3350-21s outboard driving three-bladed propellers. The prototype was to have persistent problems with engine oil leaks and poor cooling. The B-29 had similar engine problems. The inboard propellers could be reversed to shorten the landing roll.

The first XB-32 was armed with eight .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns in dorsal and ventral turrets, and an odd combination of two .50 caliber and one 20 mm (0.787 in) cannon in each outboard engine nacelle firing rearwards, plus two .50 caliber machine guns in the wings outboard of the propellers. The turrets were remotely controlled from periscopic sights in aiming stations inside the aircraft. The sights were coordinated by a sophisticated analog computer system developed by Sperry Gyroscope Company.
XB-32-CO 41-141 on 28 February 1944. On 17 March 1943, the initial contract was signed for 300 B-32-CFs but development problems continued. On 10 May 1943, the first XB-32 crashed on takeoff after making a total of 30 flights before the second XB-32, s/n 41-142, finally flew on 2 July 1943. This aircraft had a traditional stepped cockpit canopy. Upon examination and testing the USAAF recommended a large number of changes that included more conventional gun stations.


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## gekho (Oct 30, 2010)

The pressurization system problems were never solved, and consequently the aircraft was re-purposed as a bomber to be operated at low and medium altitude; however, this decision only meant that it was easily eliminated from production aircraft. Problems with the remote controlled gun turrets were also never solved and the armament on production aircraft was changed to 10 .50 caliber machine guns in manually operated turrets: Sperry A-17 turrets in the nose and tail, two Martin A-3F-A dorsal turrets, and one Sperry A-13-A ball turret. The bomb load was increased by 4,000 pounds (1,800 kg) to 20,000 pounds (9,100 kg). The second XB-32 continued to have stability problems. In an attempt to resolve this a B-29 style tail was fitted to the aircraft after its 25th flight but this did not resolve the problem and a Consolidated-designed 19.5 ft (5.9 m) vertical tail was added and first flown on the third XB-32, s/n 41-18336 on 3 November 1943. The first production aircraft was fitted with a B-29 vertical tail initially before a new tail was eventually substituted.

By 1944 testing of the three prototypes permitted the AAF to place orders for over 1,500 B-32s. The first production aircraft was delivered on 19 September 1944, by which time the B-29 was already in combat in China. The first B-32 crashed on the same day it was delivered when the nose wheel collapsed on landing. Beginning on 27 January 1945, 40 B-32A-5, -10 and -15 aircraft were delivered as unarmed TB-32-CF crew trainers. Originally, the Army Air Force intended the B-32 as a "fallback" design to be used only if the B-29 program fell significantly behind in its development schedule. As development of the B-32 became seriously delayed this plan became unnecessary due to the success of the B-29. Initial plans to use the B-32 to supplement the B-29 in re-equipping B-17 and B-24 groups before redeployment of the Eighth and Fifteenth Air Forces to the Pacific were stymied when only five production models had been delivered by the end of 1944, by which time full B-29 operations were underway in the Twentieth Air Force.


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## gekho (Oct 30, 2010)

The first assignment of the B-32 began when General George Kenney the commander of Allied air forces in the South West Pacific Area, and commander of the U.S. Fifth Air Force, traveled to Washington D.C. to request B-29s. Since priority had been given to strategic bombing by the B-29, Kenney’s request was denied, after which he requested the B-32. Following a demonstration, the Army General Staff agreed that Kenney could conduct a combat evaluation, and a test schedule of eleven missions was set up, followed by a plan to convert two of the 312th Bomb Group's four Douglas A-20 Havoc squadrons to B-32s. Project crews took three B-32s to Clark Field, Luzon, Philippine Islands in mid-May 1945, for a series of test flights completed on 17 June. The test crews were impressed with its unique reversible-pitch inboard propellers and the Davis wing which gave it excellent landing performance. However, they found a number of faults: the cockpit had an extremely high noise level, a poor instrument layout, the bombardier's vision was impaired, it was overweight and the nacelle design resulted in frequent engine fires. The three test B-32s were assigned to the 312th BG's 386th Bomb Squadron. On 29 May 1945, the first of four combat missions by the B-32 was flown against a supply depot at Antatet in the Philippines, followed by two B-32s dropping sixteen 2,000 lb (910 kg) bombs on a sugar mill at Taito, Formosa on the 15th of June. On 22 June, a B-32 bombed an alcohol plant at Heito, Formosa, with 500 lb (230 kg) bombs, but a second B-32 missed flak positions with its 260 lb (120 kg) fragmentation bombs. The last mission was flown on 25 June against bridges near Kiirun in Taiwan.

The testing missions were mostly successful, and, in July, the 386th Bomb Squadron completed its transition to the B-32, flying six more combat missions before the war ended. On 13 August, the 386th BS moved from Luzon to Yontan Airfield on Okinawa and flew mostly photographic reconnaissance missions. The missions were intended to monitor Japan's compliance with the cease fire and to gather information such as possible routes occupation forces could take into Tokyo. In addition, Rudolph Pugliese, who was the 386th's assistant intelligence officer, said in 1997 that "the photo-recon missions were also intended to test the fidelity of the Japanese...[adherence] to the terms of the cease-fire." On 17 August, three B-32s in a flight of four were attacked by Japanese flak and fighters. During the two-hour engagement, the Dominators suffered only minor damage and none of their crew were injured. "Though the B-32 gunners later claimed to have damaged one fighter and 'probably destroyed' two others, surviving Japanese records list no losses for that day or next." Based on the Japanese action on the 17th, U.S. commanders felt that it was important to continue the reconnaissance missions over Tokyo so they could determine if it was an isolated incident or an indication that Japan would reject the cease-fire and continue fighting.

On 18 August, four Dominators were given the task of photographing many of the targets covered on the previous day; however, mechanical problems caused two to be pulled from the flight. Over Japan, a formation of 14 A6M Zeros and three N1K2-J Shiden-Kai fighters (as is often the case, Shiden-Kai is described as Ki-44 Tojo, but it may be a misunderstanding of the crews) attacked the remaining two U.S. aircraft. Saburo Sakai, a Japanese ace, said later there was concern that the Dominators were attacking. Another Japanese ace, Sadamu Komachi, stated in a 1978 Japanese magazine article that the fighter pilots could not bear to see American bombers flying serenely over a devastated Tokyo. The B-32 Dominator Hobo Queen II was flying at 20,000 ft (6,100 m) when the Japanese fighters took off and received no significant damage. Hobo Queen II claimed two Zeros destroyed in the action as well as a probable Shiden-Kai. The other Dominator was flying 10,000 ft (3,000 m) below Hobo Queen II when the fighters took off. The fighters heavily damaged that Dominator and seriously wounded two crew members. Photographer Staff Sergeant Joseph Lacharite was wounded in the legs (his recovery required several years). Sergeant Anthony Marchione, a photographer's assistant, helped Lacharite and then was fatally wounded himself. Despite the damage it received, the Dominator was able to return to Okinawa. Marchione was the last American to die in air combat in World War II. On 19 August, propellers were removed from all Japanese fighters as per the terms of the cease fire agreement. The last B-32 combat photo reconnaissance mission was completed on 28 August, during which two B-32s were destroyed in separate accidents, with 15 of the 26 crewmen killed. On 30 August, the 386th Bomb Squadron stood down from operations. Production of the B-32 was cancelled on 8 September 1945, and ceased by 12 October.


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## gekho (Oct 30, 2010)

The Ventura was very similar to its predecessor, the Lockheed Hudson. The primary difference was not in layout; rather, the Ventura was larger and heavier than the Hudson. The RAF ordered 188 Venturas in February 1940. They were delivered from mid-1942 onwards. Venturas were initially used for daylight raids on occupied Europe. They proved unsuited to this task, because (like many other bombers used by the RAF), they were too vulnerable without long-range fighter escorts. They were replaced in this role by the de Havilland Mosquito. The Venturas were gradually transferred to patrol duties with Coastal Command, 30 went to the RCAF and some to the SAAF. The RAF placed a further order for 487 Ventura Mark IIs, but many of these were diverted to United States Army Air Forces service. The U.S. Army Air Forces placed its own order for 200 Ventura Mark IIA, which were put into service as the B-34 Lexington. Later redesignated RB-34.

In 1941 August, large orders for Venturas were placed with Lend-Lease Act money. Among the orders were for 550 armed reconnaissance versions of the Ventura. This plane was originally planned to be built under the designation O-56. The main differences between the Ventura and the O-56 were in the engines: rather than the 2,000 hp (1,491 kW) Pratt Whitney R-2800 radials of the Ventura, the O-56 used 1,700 hp (1,270 kW) Wright R-2600-13 radials. Before completion of the first O-56, the U.S. Army Air Forces dropped the O- category used to designate 'observation' (reconnaissance) planes. The O-56 was redesignated the RB-34B (RB- for 'reconnaissance bomber'). Before the first of these flew, the design was redesignated again as the B-37, because it used different engines.

RB was not used for Reconnaissance until after 1947. F was used for photo rec. R was used for Rotorcraft, which was changed to H for Helicopter after 1947. The RB designation WAS eventually given to these aircraft to represent a Redesignation - in this case to a training role. While 550 were ordered by the Army Air Forces, acquisition by the USAAF stopped after only 18 were accepted, when the Army Air Forces agreed to turn over exclusive use of the Ventura to the United States Navy.


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## gekho (Oct 30, 2010)

During the early months of 1942, the primary responsibility for anti-submarine warfare in the United States was shouldered by the Army Air Force. This irked the Navy, as it considered this region of battle its burden. To carry out such a task, the Navy was pursuing a long-range, land-based patrol and reconnaissance aircraft with a substantial bombload. This goal was always resisted by the Army Air Force, which carefully protected its monopoly on land-based bombing. This forced the navy to use long-range floatplanes for these roles. The Navy was unable to upgrade to more capable aircraft until the Army Air Force needed the Navy plant in Renton, Washington to manufacture its B-29 Superfortress. In exchange for use of the Renton plant, the Army Air Force would discontinue its objections to Naval land-based bombers, and provide planes to the Navy. One of the clauses of this agreement stated that production of the B-34 and B-37 by Lockheed would cease, and instead these resources would be directed at building a navalised version, the PV-1 Ventura.

The PV-1 began to be delivered in December 1942, and entered service in February 1943. The first squadron in combat was VP-135, deployed in the Aleutian Islands in April 1943. They were operated by three other squadrons in this theatre. From the Aleutians, they flew strikes against Paramushiro, a Japanese island. Often, PV-1s would lead B-24 bomber formations, since they were equipped with radar. In late 1943, some PV-1s were deployed to the Solomon Islands. After the war the US Navy deemed many PV-1s as obsolete and the aircraft were sent to Naval Air Station Clinton, Oklahoma to be demilitarized and reduced to scrap.


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## vikingBerserker (Oct 30, 2010)

Very cool! I always liked the B-32


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## Gnomey (Oct 30, 2010)

Good stuff!


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## Matt308 (Oct 30, 2010)

I always like the Ventura series. B-32 not so much. She need a fuselage plug for and aft of the wing box to give her the lines of the B-29.


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## gekho (Oct 31, 2010)

The Douglas A-20 Havoc served Allied forces through most of World War 2, fighting for British, American and Soviet forces. The type saw extensive use, proving itself a war-winner capable of withstanding a great deal of punishment but living up to its namesake in turn thanks to its speed and inherent firepower. Her crews put the aircraft through its paces with production topping over 7,000 units and several major production variants. Built as a light bomber but operated more or less as a heavy fighter, the Havoc proved a successful addition to the Douglas company line and the Allied war effort as a whole before being eventually replaced by the more capable Douglas A-26 Invader in the attack/light bombing role and Northrop P-61 Black Widow in the night-fighter role.

The A-20 series began life as the Douglas Model 7B design, a light bomber attempt originally put to the paper as early as 1936. The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) showed enough interest after a design review in 1938 that it ordered an operational prototype to be constructed under contract. The first flyable model took to the air on October 26th, 1938, and displayed extremely promising potential for such a design. The aircraft was fast on its twin engines and responsive to the controls with very few negative aspects to her overall design. At any rate, the future of the Model 7B was showing great promise.

With America still in an isolationist mentality despite the worsening situation in Europe (and the world for that matter), the Model 7B was not followed upon by the USAAC and shelved for the time being. Despite this setback, the French and Belgium governments came calling - with some desperation one can imagine - and ordered several hundred Model 7B's for immediate production in February of 1940. These were assigned the official designation of DB-7 and construction covered two distinct production models to become the DB-7A and the DB-7B. An initial batch of 100 DB-7's were constructed and an extended order for 270 more was put into action to help strengthen the ranks. Despite the initiative, only 115 DB-7;s were ultimately delivered to French forces before the collapse of France under German power. Some 95 French-operated DB-7's escaped to North Africa while the remaining models in American hands - and the contract to go along with them - were diverted to British ownership who took over operation of the type as the "Boston". The British Boston series covered three distinct marks as the Boston Mk.I (DB-7), Boston Mk.II (DB-7A) and Boston Mk.III (DB-7B).


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## gekho (Oct 31, 2010)

RAF Bostons were fielded as day bombers initially, though these met with disastrous results. The type was found to be unsuitable for such a dangerous role and therefore modified into a dedicated night-fighter form. The RAF selected roughly 100 of these Boston light bombers and produced the converted "Havoc", intruder aircraft fitted with the AI Mk IV series of radar in the nose housing and as many as 12 x 7.7mm machine guns to handle the offensive dirty work. Additionally, these converted Bostons were given increased armor protection for the crew and specialized exhaust piping to dampen the flame effects of the engines at night. Essentially, the British RAF gave birth to the "Havoc" series by default, despite its origins as an American airplane. Havocs were first fielded by No. 23 Squadron.

With its newfound weapon, the RAF initiated several interesting - yet costly - projects involving the Havoc. One such initiative involved the "Turbinlite", night-fighting Havoc Mk I models fitted with a 2,700-million candlepower spotlight taking up most of the space in the nose housing. Up to 10 squadrons and 18 months of valuable time and resources went into this project which ultimately proved a failure.

In 1939, the USAAC returned to the DB-7 and re-evaluated its potential for use in the American military. The aircraft was given an extended life now with the initial order of 63 DB-7B platforms. The initial requirement of the USAAC specified a high-altitude capable airframe in the attack bomber role. As such, Douglas produced the design (designated as the A-20) with 2 x turbosupercharged R-2600-7 Wright Cyclone radial engines of 1,700 horsepower each. These initial A-20s were to feature a battery of 4 x 7.62mm (.30 caliber) machine guns in fuselage blister positions. An additional 2 x 7.62mm machine guns would be manned from a dorsal position while a single 7.62mm machine gun was allotted to a manned ventral gun position. Interestingly, rearward-firing 7.62mm machine guns were also introduced in this design, with these being mounted in each engine nacelle. Bombload was a reported 1,600lbs of internal ordnance. Crew personnel amounted to four specialists - a pilot, navigator, bombardier (in a glassed-in nose position) and gunner. Performance specs allowed for a top speed of 385 miles per hour (comparable to fighter performance) and a ceiling of up to 31,500 feet and range totaling some 1,100 miles (ferry range).


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## gekho (Oct 31, 2010)

After the first A-20 was produced in this fashion, the Air Corps came back with a "modest" change to the requirement, deleting the need for a dedicated high-altitude platform and instead centering on a design capable of handling operations in a low-to-medium altitude zone. As such, the design was revisited and had its turbo-superchargers rightfully removed as they posed no performance benefits at lower operating levels. With the first A-20 completed to the high-altitude specification, the remaining aircraft on order followed this new design direction.

The initial A-20 did go on to serve as the developmental prototype form of the XP-70, the basis for the P-70 dedicated night-fighter. This single A-20 was modified to an extent, having its Wright Cyclone engines changed out for a different model version in the engine series and the problematic turbosuperchargers removed altogether, the latter causing some cooling issues.

143 total contracted A-20A models (based on the DB-7B) were introduced, first as an initial batch of 123 followed up by a smaller batch of 20 more. Differences between the A-20A and the original A-20 model were subtle yet distinct. The most prominent change occurred in the selection of a new Wright R-2600-3/-11 series engines of 1,600 horsepower each (sans the turbosuperchargers required for high-altitude work). First flight of the model was achieved on September 16th, 1940 and saw first deliveries to the 3rd Bomb Group by early 1941. Smaller issue numbers also were allotted to Panamanian and Hawaiian stations as well, extending the types reach somewhat. Armament of A-20A models included the 4 x 7.62mm forward-firing machine guns in fuselage blisters, 2 x 7.62mm machine guns in the dorsal position, 1 x 7.62mm machine gun in the ventral position and the 2 x 7.62mm rear-firing machine guns in fixed engine nacelle positions. Additionally, 1,600lbs of internal ordnance could be carried. The crew remained the initial four personnel as in the base A-20 design. Performance allowed for a top speed of 347 miles per hour, a ceiling of 28,175 feet and an operating range of 1,000 miles.

By October of 1940, the USAAC went on order for more Havocs, these being in the newer A-20B model form based on the DB-7A). The A-20B retained its twin engine light attack bomber role along with the A-model's R-2600-11 series radials and glassed-in nose, framed like that of a greenhouse. A slight variation in the design of this nose glass was the most discerning factor between distinguishing the A-20A and A-20B models. Additionally, armament was lessened to an extent, with the A-20B mounting just 2 x 12.7mm nose-mounted (lower fuselage) machine guns, 1 x 12.7mm machine gun in the dorsal position, 1 x 7.62mm machine gun in the ventral position and the two engine nacelle-mounted rear-firing 7.62mm machine guns. To make up for the lessened offensive firepower, the internal bombload was increased to 2,400lbs. Performance remained comparable with the top speed reported at 350 miles per hour, a range of 2,300 miles and a ceiling of 28,500 feet. The US Navy received eight such aircraft but used them in the target towing role as BD-2's. The Soviet Union became a large operator of the A-20B series under the Lend-Lease program, receiving 665 of the 999 production examples under the agreement.


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## gekho (Oct 31, 2010)

The A-20C model appeared as an "improved" A-20A model. C-models brought back the cluster of 4 x 7.62mm lower-fuselage nose-mounted armament. 2 x 7.62mm machine guns were appropriated to the dorsal aft gun position along with a 7.62mm machine gun in a flexible ventral tunnel mount. Bombload was an impressive 2,400lbs though this could be supplemented by an internally-held fuel supply instead, increasing the aircrafts range somewhat. Additional improvements over the A-models included self-sealing fuel tanks (almost a prerequisite of any aircraft design going into the Second World War), improved armor plating for improved crew protection and 2 x Wright R-2600-23 Cyclone radial engines of 1,600 horsepower each. A crew of four was still required to operate the light attack bomber. Despite these additions and the aircraft proving heavier than preceding models, the A-20C saw only a slight reduction to overall speed. Performance included a top speed of 342 miles per hour, a range of 2,300 miles and a reduced ceiling of 25,320 feet. 948 examples of the A-20C were produced with these ear-marked for Britain (under designations Boston Mk.III and Boston Mk.IIIa) and Russia under Lend-Lease. However, the American need for such a platform was growing evermore and, as such, the a bulk of these were retained for American use. At least 140 A-20C models were produced by Boeing at their Seattle, Washington plant. Douglas handled the production of their 808 A-20C's at their Santa Monica, California facility.

The A-20D model appeared as a proposed high-altitude variant based on the A-20B. Once again, the idea of a turbosupercharged Wright Cyclone engine was entertained with equal results. The project was cancelled without any production taking place.

The A-20E represented converted A-20A models for use as utility use or developmental test airframes. These models were fitted with the Wright Cyclone R-2600-11 series engines as found on the later batch of A-20A production models (numbering some 20 such aircraft). A total of 17 A-20E converted models existed.

The XA-20F was a single A-20A model converted for use as a weapons test platform. These Havocs had a 37mm T-20-E-1 cannon mounted in a specially-designed nose assembly. General Electric powered turrets replaced the flexible gun mounts of the dorsal and ventral positions, each fitted with 2 x 12.7mm machine guns. Though relegated strictly to testbed use, the remote-controlled turrets were later a feature of the Douglas A-26 Invader series. This aircraft retained the Wright R-2600-3/-11 series of engines in its design.

The A-20G became the largest production run of the Havoc series, numbering some 2,850 total aircraft. The A-20G followed on the heels of the A-20C production model and was a dedicated ground attack platform as opposed to the light bomber designation carried by preceding models. The initial production A-20G block (259 total A-20G-1's) featured the distinctive solid nose assembly mounting 4 x 20mm cannons (deleting the bombardier's nose position and bringing the crew total down to three personnel). The follow-up production block (Block 5) reverted back to a more conventional array of 6 x 12.7mm machine guns as the cannons were prone to jamming and offered up a slow rate of fire. The cannon-armed versions were mostly operated under the Soviet banner via Lend-Lease and understandably proved quite devastating in the ground attack role. Additional armament for either form of this aircraft included 2 x 12.7mm machine guns in a flexible dorsal position and a single 7.62mm machine gun in the ventral position (flexible mount). Bombload totaled 2,000lbs of internally-held ordnance and/or 374-gallon drop tank. Engines for the aircraft were Wright R-2600-23 Cyclone supercharged radials of 1,600 horsepower each. Top speed was 317 miles per hour with a combat range of 950 miles and a modest ceiling of 23,700 feet.

The A-20H was a limited-production run model numbering 412 aircraft for use by American and Soviet forces (via Lend-Lease). These represented similar models to the A-20G (Block 45) but with more powerful engines allowing for shorter take-offs. Essentially, A-20H models were "improved" A-20G models with Wright R-2600-29 Cyclone supercharged radial engines of 1,700 horsepower each. By this time the R-2600-3 series was out of production.

A-20J models were "lead ship" variants with glassed-in nose assemblies as requested by the USAAC. These aircraft were pivotal in increasing the bombing accuracy of the solid nose A-20G models as they featured dedicated bombardiers complete with Norden bombsights and would often "lead" the other "sightless" bombers to the target, achieve the appropriate drop time via direct sighting and inevitably drop its bombload, signaling the other A-20's in the flight group to do the same. A-20J's were essentially the same aircraft with the exception of their nose construction. As might be expected, the 4 x 12.7mm machine guns were removed in the A-20J models to make room for the bombardier and his equipment. The 2 x 12.7mm lower-fuselage machine guns were, however, still kept as standard armament in the type those there were sometimes deleted in the field for the simple idea of saving weight. Total production of the A-20J was 450, built concurrently alongside the A-20G for ease. The A-20J was eventually replaced by the A-26C Invader aircraft, this airplane with its own glassed-in nose. A-20K models were similar in design and scope to A-20J models, serving as lead ships though based on the A-20H and mounting different engines (Wright R-2600-29 Cyclone radials of 1,700 horsepower).

The P-70 became the dedicated (albeit interim systems until the arrival of the Northrop P-61 Black Widows) night-fighter variants of the A-20 series. The P-70A featured AI radar in a solid nose along with 2 x Wright R-2600-11 radial engines of 1,600 horsepower. 39 P-70A-1's were delivered in 1943 to help combat Japanese night raids in the Pacific. Armament of these P-70A-1's included an under-fuselage pack containing 4 x 20mm cannons and two machine guns in the dorsal position. The former was later changed to 6 x 12.7mm machine guns in the nose. The P-70A-2 appeared as 65 converted forms from A-20G models but were basically similar to the P-20A-1's without the rear defensive machine guns. The P-70B-2 followed and was a night-fighter trainer platform appearing as 105 converted A-20G and A-20J models with American-made SCR-720/-729 series radar systems.

The CA-20 was another notable variant, these being A-20's converted for general transportation roles as the newer A-26 Invader took more and more of the A-20's role away from it. These aircraft astoundingly served into the 1960's.


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## Matt308 (Oct 31, 2010)

Great pics. Never realized that early versions had rearward fixed guns in the engine nacelles.


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## Glider (Oct 31, 2010)

Reading No 2 Group its clear that the RAF much preferred the earlier A20C (Boston III) to the later types which on paper were better aircraft. Even when later replacements were available the squadrons carried on with the A20C as long as spares and replacements were available.
Basically they preferred the better acceleration, handling and agility of the earlier version as a method of evading fighter attacks that the heavier weapons carried by latter versions.


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## gekho (Nov 1, 2010)

More pics


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## gekho (Nov 1, 2010)

More pics


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## gekho (Nov 1, 2010)

More pics


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## Gnomey (Nov 1, 2010)

Good stuff!


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## vikingBerserker (Nov 1, 2010)

Excellent, the more I read about the A-20 the more I like it.


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## mudpuppy (Nov 2, 2010)

Fantastic pics, gekho! Thanks for posting these. Looking at shot # 2 in post 159; it looks like the A-20 is just pulling up and if so i am amazed at how he missed getting tangled up with that ship. It would take a pair of big brass ones to fly those low-level bombing/strafing runs on shipping like that. Salute to those who did!!!
Derek


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## gekho (Nov 3, 2010)

The Martin Model 167 was a US-designed light bomber that first flew in 1939. It saw action in World War II with France and the United Kingdom, where it was called the Maryland. In response to a US Army Air Corps light bomber requirement issued in 1938, the Glenn L. Martin Company produced their Model 167 which was given the official designation XA-22. Martin's design was a twin-engine fully-metallic monoplane, capable of around 310 mph (447 km/h) and carrying a crew of three. The bombardier sat in the nose below the cockpit, and self-defense was provided by a mid-upper twin-machine gun turret, as well as four forward firing light machine guns in the wings. The XA-22 was not adopted for operational service in the US as the contract was won by Douglas with its A-20. But Martin received foreign orders, and eventually about 450 of these relatively fast, twin engined planes were built.


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## gekho (Nov 3, 2010)

Martin had planned to use Wright R-3350-11 engines in an XA-23 designed for the Army. That project was dropped, but on May 18, 1940, an order had been placed for 400 Martin 187s better fitted to meet British requirements for increased power and armament. First flown by E.D. Shannon on June 12, 1941, the Martin 187B was dubbed the Baltimore, and differed from the Maryland by having Wright 1,600-hp R-2600-A5B engines, self-sealing fuel tanks, 211 pounds of armor, and a deeper fuselage for a four-man crew and four 500-pound bombs. Fifty Baltimore I and 100 Baltimore II types had eleven .30-caliber guns; four fixed in the wings, two flexible guns for the upper rear cockpit, another for the ventral spot, and an unusual mounting of four belly guns pointing aft and fixed at an angle 9° down and 1.5° out. Hand-held upper guns were replaced on the 250 Baltimore IIIs by a Boulton Paul power turret with four .303-caliber guns. 

By 1941’s end, 146 Baltimores had been accepted, and of the original 400 Baltimores accepted by June 1942, 356 went to RAF units in the Middle East, 35 were sunk on torpedoed ships, six went to the United Kingdom and one was retained by Martin. The first RAF mission was on May 23, 1942, in Libya, but Messerschmitts downed all four Baltimores, proving that light bombers still needed fighter escort.


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## gekho (Nov 3, 2010)

After the Lend-Lease Act made available more funds for Britain, 575 more were ordered June 17, 1941. Since lend-lease aircraft were purchased by the United States government, they had AAF designations, including the Douglas A-20C Boston, the Lockheed A-28 and A-29 Hudsons, Martin A-30 Baltimore, and Vultee A-31 Vengence. (As the Hudsons were actually maritime patrol types, not attack planes, they are discussed in Chapter 20.)

The A-30 began appearing in August 1942, with two .50-caliber guns in a Martin power turret replacing the hand-held dorsal guns, and bomb bay ferry tanks so they could be ferried across the South Atlantic to Accra. The 281 Baltimore IIIA models were followed, beginning January 1943, by 294 Baltimore IV (A-30A-l/5). Six hundred Baltimore Vs (A-30A-10/30) with 1,700-hp Wright R-2600-29 Cyclones were ordered September 23, 1942, and delivery began by July 1943. Wing guns were now also of .50-caliber.

When production ended in May 1944, 1,575 Baltimores had been built, 78 had been lost before or during flight deliveries to Africa, and the last one was retained by the U.S. Navy for tests. All combat missions were flown in the Mediterranean area. Besides ten RAF and three South African squadrons, Baltimores also served a Greek squadron in 1944, and became the last bomber used by the Italian Air Force when 34 were supplied to a unit of the Co-Belligerent Air Force from November 1944 to May 1945. Although neutral, Turkey also received 72 Baltimore Vs, beginning in August 1944, while 12 were given in 1945 to a French squadron in Syria.


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## Capt. Vick (Nov 3, 2010)

Good God Man! What is the deal with those oversized intakes on the cowl top???? Was that one some kind of test aircraft?


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## Capt. Vick (Nov 3, 2010)

Duplicate Post


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## Shortround6 (Nov 3, 2010)

Capt. Vick said:


> Good God Man! What is the deal with those oversized intakes on the cowl top???? Was that one some kind of test aircraft?



Wild guess.......part of an air filter--sand/dirt trap?


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## gekho (Nov 4, 2010)

The A-26, the last aircraft designated as an "attack bomber," was designed to replace the Douglas A-20 Havoc/Boston. It incorporated many improvements over the earlier Douglas designs. The first three XA-26 prototypes first flew in July 1942, and each was configured differently: Number One as a daylight bomber with a glass nose, Number Two as a gun-laden night-fighter, and Number Three as a ground-attack platform, with a 75-millimeter cannon in the nose. This final variant, eventually called the A-26B, was chosen for production.

Upon its delivery to the 9th Air Force in Europe in November 1944 (and the Pacific Theater shortly thereafter), the A-26 became the fastest US bomber of WWII. The A-26C, with slightly-modified armament, was introduced in 1945. The A-26s combat career was cut short by the end of the war, and because no other use could be found for them, many A-26s were converted to JD-1 target tugs for the US Navy.


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## gekho (Nov 4, 2010)

A strange aircraft-designation swap occurred in 1948, when the Martin B-26 Marauder was deactivated and the Douglas A-26 was re-designated the B-26. (It kept this designation until 1962.) B-26s went on to serve extensively in both the Korean and Vietnam wars. In Vietnam, they were commonly used in the Counter-Insurgency (COIN) role, with very heavy armament and extra power. This version, the B-26K, was based in Thailand and was, to confuse things further, called the A-26 for political reasons. B-26s were also used for training, VIP transport, cargo, night reconnaissance, missile guidance and tracking, and as drone-control platforms.

Post-war uses of the airplane included luxurious executive transport (Smith Tempo I; Tempo II and Biscayne 26; LAS Super-26; Berry Silver-Sixty; Monarch-26; On-Mark Marketeer/Marksman), aerial surveying and, most notably, firefighting, a role in which it is still occasionally used today.


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## Matt308 (Nov 4, 2010)

Loved the pics with the F-106s in the background in the early days of the vietnam war. Hard to believe that the A-26 was developed in WWII with such beautiful lines.


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## Glider (Nov 4, 2010)

I admit that the A26 is at the bottom of my list of US bombers. Too big, too poorly defended (I have an aversion to Periscope sights) and too complex. Had they come across serious opposition I have this feeling that they would have come off second best.


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## vikingBerserker (Nov 4, 2010)

I does look like a hotrod though.


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## gekho (Nov 5, 2010)

Deleted


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## gekho (Nov 5, 2010)

The Lockheed Hudson was an American-built light bomber and coastal reconnaissance aircraft built initially for the Royal Air Force shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War and primarily operated by the RAF thereafter. The Hudson was the first significant aircraft construction contract for the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation—the initial RAF order for 200 Hudsons far surpassed any previous order the company had received. The Hudson served throughout the war, mainly with Coastal Command but also in transport and training roles as well as delivering agents into occupied France. They were also used extensively with the Royal Canadian Air Force's anti-submarine squadrons.

In 1941, the USAAF began operating the Hudson; the Twin Wasp-powered variant was designated the A-28 (82 acquired) and the Cyclone-powered variant was designated the A-29 (418 acquired). The US Navy operated 20 A-28s, redesignated the PBO-1. A further 300 were built as aircrew trainers, designated the AT-18. During the war, they were used as maritime patrol aircraft in the Pacific by the US Navy, the RAAF and the Royal New Zealand Air Force.


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## gekho (Nov 5, 2010)

The Beechcraft XA-38 Grizzly was a United States ground attack aircraft, fitted with a forward-firing 75 mm cannon to attack heavily armored targets. The first prototype flew on 7 May 1944 but after testing it became obvious it would not be ready for the projected invasion of Japan, and furthermore it used engines required by the B-29 Superfortress — which had priority. It was thus canceled after two prototypes had been completed, and remains a fascinating might-have-been. The United States Army Air Forces awarded the Beech Aircraft Corporation a contract in December 1942 for two prototypes for their Model 28 "Destroyer". The requirement was for a powerful ground attack aircraft to replace the Douglas A-20 Havoc, with the ability to hit "hardened" targets like tanks and bunkers. This capability was achieved through a 75 mm cannon with 20 rounds, mounted in a fixed position on the nose (very visible in photographs) as well as two .50 caliber (12.7 mm) machine guns firing forward. Defensive armament consisted of remotely-controlled ventral and dorsal turrets, each armed with twin .50 calibers (12.7 mm). There were to be two crew members, a pilot and an observer/gunner in the rear cabin, using periscope sights to aim the guns.

On 7 May 1944, Beech test pilot Vern Carstens flew the XA-38 on its maiden flight from the company's Wichita airfield. The aircraft proved satisfactory in all respects and better than expected in some, including top speed. During testing, the XA-38 prototypes were flown by U.S. Army pilots and serviced by military personnel, proving to be reliable and establishing a high level of serviceability. The armament proved especially effective and had it not been for wartime priorities shifting in 1944, the aircraft would most likely have been ordered in quantity, although the B-29 had priority for the Wright R-3350 engines. Instead, one prototype was scrapped and the other, intended for the USAF Museum, had an unknown fate.


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## gekho (Nov 5, 2010)

The Ford Trimotor (also called the "Tri-Motor", and nicknamed "The Tin Goose") was an American three-engined transport plane that was first produced in 1925 by the companies of Henry Ford and that continued to be produced until June 7, 1933. Throughout its time in production, a total of 199 Ford Trimotors were produced. Although it was designed for the civil aviation market, this aircraft was also used by military units, and it was sold all over the world.

In the early 1920s Henry Ford, along with a group of 19 other investors including his son Edsel, invested in the Stout Metal Airplane Company. In 1925, Ford bought Stout and its aircraft designs. The single-engine Stout design was turned into a multi-engine design the Stout 3-AT with three Curtiss-Wright air-cooled radial engines. After a prototype was built and test flown with poor results, a suspicious fire causing the complete destruction of all previous designs, the "4-AT" and "5-AT" emerged.

That the Ford Trimotor used an all-metal construction was not a revolutionary concept, but certainly more advanced than the standard construction techniques in the 1920s. The aircraft resembled the Fokker F.VII Trimotor, but unlike the Fokker, the Forde was all-metal, allowing Ford to claim it was "the safest airliner around." Its fuselage and wings were constructed of aluminum alloy which was corrugated for added strength, although the drag reduced its overall performance. This has become something of a trademark for the Trimotor. Although designed primarily for passenger use, the Trimotor could be easily adapted for hauling cargo, since its seats in the fuselage could be removed. To increase cargo capacity, one unusual feature was the provision of "drop-down" cargo holds below the lower inner wing sections of the 5-AT version. One 4-AT with Wright J-4 200 hp engines was built for the U.S. Army Air Corps as the C-3, and seven with Wright R-790-3 (235 hp) as C-3As. The latter were upgraded to Wright R-975-1 (J6-9) radials at 300 hp and redesignated C-9. Five 5-ATs were built as C-4s or C-4As.


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## gekho (Nov 5, 2010)

The Sikorsky S-38 was an American twin-engined 8-seat amphibious aircraft. It was sometimes called "The Explorer's Air Yacht" and was Sikorsky's first widely produced amphibious flying boat which in addition to serving successfully for Pan American Airways and the U.S. Army, also had numerous private owners who received notoriety for their exploits.The S-38 was developed from the Sikorsky S-34 and S-36. The S-38 first flew on May 25, 1928. The United States Navy ordered two aircraft (designated XPS-2) and Pan American Airways were an early customer. A total of 101 aircraft were built, manufactured originally by the Sikorsky Manufacturing Corporation of Long Island, New York, and by the Sikorsky Aviation Corporation in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Sikorsky was acquired by United Aircraft and Transport Corporation (now United Technologies Corporation) in mid-production.


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## gekho (Nov 5, 2010)

In the early 1930s, fears about the safety of wooden aircraft structures (responsible for the crash of a Fokker Trimotor) compelled the American aviation industry to develop all-metal types. With United Airlines having a monopoly on the Boeing 247, rival Transcontinental and Western Air issued a specification for an all-metal trimotor. The response of the Douglas Aircraft Company was more radical. When it flew on July 1, 1933, the prototype DC-1 had a highly robust tapered wing, a retractable undercarriage, and only two 690 hp (515 kW) Wright radial engines driving variable-pitch propellers. It seated 12 passengers.

TWA accepted the basic design and ordered 20, with more powerful engines and seating for 14 passengers, as DC-2s. The design impressed a number of American and European airlines and further orders followed. Those for European customers KLM, LOT, Swissair, CLS and LAPE were assembled by Fokker in the Netherlands after that company bought a licence from Douglas. Airspeed Ltd. took a similar licence for DC-2s to be delivered in Britain and assigned the company designation Airspeed AS.23, but although a registration for one aircraft was reserved none were actually delivered. Another licence was taken by the Nakajima Aircraft Company in Japan; unlike Fokker and Airspeed, Nakajima built five aircraft as well as assembling at least one Douglas-built aircraft. A total of 156 DC-2s were built.

Although overshadowed by its ubiquitous successor, it was the DC-2 that first showed that passenger air travel could be comfortable, safe and reliable. As a token of this, KLM entered their first DC-2 PH-AJU Uiver (Stork) in the October 1934 MacRobertson Air Race between London and Melbourne. Out of the 20 entrants, it finished second behind only the purpose built de Havilland DH.88 racer Grosvenor House. During the total journey time of 90 h 13 min, it was in the air for 81 h, 10 min, and won the handicap section of the race. (The DH.88 finished first in the handicap section, but the crew was by regulations allowed to claim only one victory.)


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## gekho (Nov 6, 2010)

After October 1934 when the US government banned single-engined aircraft for use in carrying passengers or in night flying, Lockheed was perfectly placed in the market with their new Model 10 Electra. Besides airline orders, a number of civil operators also purchased the new Model 10. In May 1937, H.T. "Dick" Merrill and J.S. Lambie accomplished a round-trip crossing of the Atlantic Ocean. The feat was declared the first round-trip commercial crossing of that ocean. It won them the Harmon Trophy. On the eastbound trip, they carried newsreels of the crash of the Hindenburg, and on the return trip, they brought photographs of the coronation of King George VI. Probably the most famous use of the Electra was the highly modified Model 10E flown by aviatrix Amelia Earhart. In July 1937, she disappeared in her Electra during an attempted round-the-world flight. Many Electras and their design descendants (the Model 12 Electra Junior and Model 14 Super Electra) were pressed into military service during World War II, for instance the USAAF's C-36. By the end of the war, the Electra design was obsolete, although many smaller airlines and charter services continued to operate Electras into the 1970s.


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## gekho (Nov 6, 2010)

Lockheed's innovative twin-engine Model 10 Electra, with retractable landing gear and twin fins and rudders, helped establish the company's line of commercial passenger aircraft. The 10-passenger all-metal plane flew for the first time on February 23, 1934. Northwest Airlines was the first airline to use the plane. In the late 1930s, eight U.S. airlines flew the plane as did European, Australian, Canadian, and South American customers. Model 10 Electras were used for long-distance flights, and Major James "Jimmy" Doolittle flew an Electra from Chicago to New Orleans in five hours 55 minutes in 1936—two hours quicker than the previous fastest time. Amelia Earhart disappeared in an Electra on her round-the-world attempt. The Model 10 Electra was followed by the Model 12 Electra Junior executive transport in 1936 that seated six passengers with a two-person crew. Many Model 12s were used by the military, and the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA) used a Model 12 to evaluate a wing deicing system that used hot air from the engine exhaust.

The XC-35 was the world's first airplane specifically constructed with a pressure cabin. In the summer of 1936, the Air Corps contracted for a single Lockheed Electra Model 10-A with extensive modifications. The plane, designated XC-35 by the Army, was intended for use as a high-altitude research and pressurized cabin test plane. As a result, the basic Electra fuselage was redesigned with a near circular cross section to better withstand the stresses of pressurization. Next, the large passenger windows were replaced with much smaller slit windows. The interior was split into two sections: the forward pressurized section had room for three crewmen and two passengers. The aft section, behind the pressure bulkhead had room for one additional passenger but could only be used at lower altitudes (below 12,000 feet). Besides the pilot and copilot, the XC-35 carried an engineer who controlled the pressurization and high altitude research equipment. The XC-35 was fitted with a pair of Pratt Whitney XR-1340 radial engines. These 550-hp engines were turbo-supercharged to deliver the necessary high-altitude performance. The plane was designed to fly at altitudes above 30,000 feet. 

The Lockheed XC-35 was delivered to Wright Field, Ohio, in May 1937. It first flew later that year, with a cabin that operated at a pressure of 9.5 psi, affording its passengers the ability to fly well above 30,000 feet in shirtsleeve comfort, without the need for oxygen breathing systems. The advent of the XC-35 marked the emergence of the practical pressurized cabin for high-altitude commercial and military aircraft, a milestone event in aerospace history suitably recognized by the award of the Collier Trophy to the XC-35 team in 1938. In 1937, the Air Corps bought three Lockheed Electra Model 10-A twin engine aircraft. These planes were designated Y1C-36 and were essentially identical to the civilian version. The three planes were initially used as senior staff transports throughout the mid and late 1930s. One Y1C-36 crashed in 1938, but the remaining two aircraft were used for regular transport and utility missions during the 1940s into the World War II era. In 1938, the Y1C-36s were re-designated C-36 and later UC-36 (Utility Cargo) in 1943. The UC-36s were eventually sold to the Brazilian Air Force and served into the early 1950s.


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## gekho (Nov 6, 2010)

Lockheed's innovative twin-engine Model 10 Electra, with retractable landing gear and twin fins and rudders, helped establish the company's line of commercial passenger aircraft. The 10-passenger all-metal plane flew for the first time on February 23, 1934. Northwest Airlines was the first airline to use the plane. In the late 1930s, eight U.S. airlines flew the plane as did European, Australian, Canadian, and South American customers. Model 10 Electras were used for long-distance flights, and Major James "Jimmy" Doolittle flew an Electra from Chicago to New Orleans in five hours 55 minutes in 1936—two hours quicker than the previous fastest time. Amelia Earhart disappeared in an Electra on her round-the-world attempt. The Model 10 Electra was followed by the Model 12 Electra Junior executive transport in 1936 that seated six passengers with a two-person crew. Many Model 12s were used by the military, and the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA) used a Model 12 to evaluate a wing deicing system that used hot air from the engine exhaust.

The XC-35 was the world's first airplane specifically constructed with a pressure cabin. In the summer of 1936, the Air Corps contracted for a single Lockheed Electra Model 10-A with extensive modifications. The plane, designated XC-35 by the Army, was intended for use as a high-altitude research and pressurized cabin test plane. As a result, the basic Electra fuselage was redesigned with a near circular cross section to better withstand the stresses of pressurization. Next, the large passenger windows were replaced with much smaller slit windows. The interior was split into two sections: the forward pressurized section had room for three crewmen and two passengers. The aft section, behind the pressure bulkhead had room for one additional passenger but could only be used at lower altitudes (below 12,000 feet). Besides the pilot and copilot, the XC-35 carried an engineer who controlled the pressurization and high altitude research equipment. The XC-35 was fitted with a pair of Pratt Whitney XR-1340 radial engines. These 550-hp engines were turbo-supercharged to deliver the necessary high-altitude performance. The plane was designed to fly at altitudes above 30,000 feet. 

The Lockheed XC-35 was delivered to Wright Field, Ohio, in May 1937. It first flew later that year, with a cabin that operated at a pressure of 9.5 psi, affording its passengers the ability to fly well above 30,000 feet in shirtsleeve comfort, without the need for oxygen breathing systems. The advent of the XC-35 marked the emergence of the practical pressurized cabin for high-altitude commercial and military aircraft, a milestone event in aerospace history suitably recognized by the award of the Collier Trophy to the XC-35 team in 1938. In 1937, the Air Corps bought three Lockheed Electra Model 10-A twin engine aircraft. These planes were designated Y1C-36 and were essentially identical to the civilian version. The three planes were initially used as senior staff transports throughout the mid and late 1930s. One Y1C-36 crashed in 1938, but the remaining two aircraft were used for regular transport and utility missions during the 1940s into the World War II era. In 1938, the Y1C-36s were re-designated C-36 and later UC-36 (Utility Cargo) in 1943. The UC-36s were eventually sold to the Brazilian Air Force and served into the early 1950s.


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## gekho (Nov 6, 2010)

Lockheed's innovative twin-engine Model 10 Electra, with retractable landing gear and twin fins and rudders, helped establish the company's line of commercial passenger aircraft. The 10-passenger all-metal plane flew for the first time on February 23, 1934. Northwest Airlines was the first airline to use the plane. In the late 1930s, eight U.S. airlines flew the plane as did European, Australian, Canadian, and South American customers. Model 10 Electras were used for long-distance flights, and Major James "Jimmy" Doolittle flew an Electra from Chicago to New Orleans in five hours 55 minutes in 1936—two hours quicker than the previous fastest time. Amelia Earhart disappeared in an Electra on her round-the-world attempt. The Model 10 Electra was followed by the Model 12 Electra Junior executive transport in 1936 that seated six passengers with a two-person crew. Many Model 12s were used by the military, and the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA) used a Model 12 to evaluate a wing deicing system that used hot air from the engine exhaust.

The XC-35 was the world's first airplane specifically constructed with a pressure cabin. In the summer of 1936, the Air Corps contracted for a single Lockheed Electra Model 10-A with extensive modifications. The plane, designated XC-35 by the Army, was intended for use as a high-altitude research and pressurized cabin test plane. As a result, the basic Electra fuselage was redesigned with a near circular cross section to better withstand the stresses of pressurization. Next, the large passenger windows were replaced with much smaller slit windows. The interior was split into two sections: the forward pressurized section had room for three crewmen and two passengers. The aft section, behind the pressure bulkhead had room for one additional passenger but could only be used at lower altitudes (below 12,000 feet). Besides the pilot and copilot, the XC-35 carried an engineer who controlled the pressurization and high altitude research equipment. The XC-35 was fitted with a pair of Pratt Whitney XR-1340 radial engines. These 550-hp engines were turbo-supercharged to deliver the necessary high-altitude performance. The plane was designed to fly at altitudes above 30,000 feet. 

The Lockheed XC-35 was delivered to Wright Field, Ohio, in May 1937. It first flew later that year, with a cabin that operated at a pressure of 9.5 psi, affording its passengers the ability to fly well above 30,000 feet in shirtsleeve comfort, without the need for oxygen breathing systems. The advent of the XC-35 marked the emergence of the practical pressurized cabin for high-altitude commercial and military aircraft, a milestone event in aerospace history suitably recognized by the award of the Collier Trophy to the XC-35 team in 1938.In 1937, the Air Corps bought three Lockheed Electra Model 10-A twin engine aircraft. These planes were designated Y1C-36 and were essentially identical to the civilian version. The three planes were initially used as senior staff transports throughout the mid and late 1930s. One Y1C-36 crashed in 1938, but the remaining two aircraft were used for regular transport and utility missions during the 1940s into the World War II era. In 1938, the Y1C-36s were re-designated C-36 and later UC-36 (Utility Cargo) in 1943. The UC-36s were eventually sold to the Brazilian Air Force
and served into the early 1950s.


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## gekho (Nov 6, 2010)

Lockheed's innovative twin-engine Model 10 Electra, with retractable landing gear and twin fins and rudders, helped establish the company's line of commercial passenger aircraft. The 10-passenger all-metal plane flew for the first time on February 23, 1934. Northwest Airlines was the first airline to use the plane. In the late 1930s, eight U.S. airlines flew the plane as did European, Australian, Canadian, and South American customers. Model 10 Electras were used for long-distance flights, and Major James "Jimmy" Doolittle flew an Electra from Chicago to New Orleans in five hours 55 minutes in 1936—two hours quicker than the previous fastest time. Amelia Earhart disappeared in an Electra on her round-the-world attempt. The Model 10 Electra was followed by the Model 12 Electra Junior executive transport in 1936 that seated six passengers with a two-person crew. Many Model 12s were used by the military, and the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA) used a Model 12 to evaluate a wing deicing system that used hot air from the engine exhaust.

The XC-35 was the world's first airplane specifically constructed with a pressure cabin. In the summer of 1936, the Air Corps contracted for a single Lockheed Electra Model 10-A with extensive modifications. The plane, designated XC-35 by the Army, was intended for use as a high-altitude research and pressurized cabin test plane. As a result, the basic Electra fuselage was redesigned with a near circular cross section to better withstand the stresses of pressurization. Next, the large passenger windows were replaced with much smaller slit windows. The interior was split into two sections: the forward pressurized section had room for three crewmen and two passengers. The aft section, behind the pressure bulkhead had room for one additional passenger but could only be used at lower altitudes (below 12,000 feet). Besides the pilot and copilot, the XC-35 carried an engineer who controlled the pressurization and high altitude research equipment. The XC-35 was fitted with a pair of Pratt Whitney XR-1340 radial engines. These 550-hp engines were turbo-supercharged to deliver the necessary high-altitude performance. The plane was designed to fly at altitudes above 30,000 feet. 

The Lockheed XC-35 was delivered to Wright Field, Ohio, in May 1937. It first flew later that year, with a cabin that operated at a pressure of 9.5 psi, affording its passengers the ability to fly well above 30,000 feet in shirtsleeve comfort, without the need for oxygen breathing systems. The advent of the XC-35 marked the emergence of the practical pressurized cabin for high-altitude commercial and military aircraft, a milestone event in aerospace history suitably recognized by the award of the Collier Trophy to the XC-35 team in 1938.In 1937, the Air Corps bought three Lockheed Electra Model 10-A twin engine aircraft. These planes were designated Y1C-36 and were essentially identical to the civilian version. The three planes were initially used as senior staff transports throughout the mid and late 1930s. One Y1C-36 crashed in 1938, but the remaining two aircraft were used for regular transport and utility missions during the 1940s into the World War II era. In 1938, the Y1C-36s were re-designated C-36 and later UC-36 (Utility Cargo) in 1943. The UC-36s were eventually sold to the Brazilian Air Force
and served into the early 1950s.


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## vikingBerserker (Nov 6, 2010)

I love the Grizzly!


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## gekho (Nov 10, 2010)

Some of Lockheed's wooden designs, such as the Orion, had been built by Detroit Aircraft Corporation with metal fuselages. However, the Electra was Lockheed's first all-metal and twin-engine design by Hall Hibbard. Most of the structure is 7075 Aluminum alloy with 2024 Aluminum alloy used for skin panels and bulkhead webs subjected to tension loads through pressurization. The name Electra came from a star in the Pleiades. The prototype made its first flight on February 23, 1934 with Marshall Headle at the controls. Wind tunnel work on the Electra was undertaken at the University of Michigan. Much of the work was performed by a student assistant, Clarence Johnson. He suggested two changes be made to the design: changing the single tail to double tails (later a Lockheed trademark), and deleting oversized wing fillets. Both of these suggestions were incorporated into production aircraft. Upon receiving his master's degree, Johnson joined Lockheed as a regular employee, ultimately leading the Skunk Works in developing advanced aircraft such as the SR-71 Blackbird.

After October 1934 when the US government banned single-engined aircraft for use in carrying passengers or in night flying, Lockheed was perfectly placed in the market with their new Model 10 Electra. Besides airline orders, a number of civil operators also purchased the new Model 10. In May 1937, H.T. "Dick" Merrill and J.S. Lambie accomplished a round-trip crossing of the Atlantic Ocean. The feat was declared the first round-trip commercial crossing of that ocean. It won them the Harmon Trophy. On the eastbound trip, they carried newsreels of the crash of the Hindenburg, and on the return trip, they brought photographs of the coronation of King George VI. Probably the most famous use of the Electra was the highly modified Model 10E flown by aviatrix Amelia Earhart. In July 1937, she disappeared in her Electra during an attempted round-the-world flight. Many Electras and their design descendants (the Model 12 Electra Junior and Model 14 Super Electra) were pressed into military service during World War II, for instance the USAAF's C-36. By the end of the war, the Electra design was obsolete, although many smaller airlines and charter services continued to operate Electras into the 1970s.


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## gekho (Nov 10, 2010)

The Model 18 Twin Beech twin-engine aircraft were designed by Beech as a response to global tension in the late 1930s. After the prototype took flight in 1937, China issued a order amounting to $750,000 to convert these aircraft into light bombers, but only 39 were delivered by the time China entered WW2 in Jul 1937. As the United States geared for war, the Model 18 design were built as US Army AT-7 Navigator, AT-11 Kansan, and C-45 Expeditor aircraft and US Navy SNB Kansan, JRB Kansan, and UC-45 Expeditor Navigator aircraft. They were used as transports or trainers. After the war, the US Air Force kept C-45 aircraft in use until 1963, Navy SNB aircraft until 1972, and US Army C-45 aircraft until 1976. The production of the Model 18 aircraft did not stop until 1970, with the last model exported to Japan Airlines, making the design the longest continuous production of a piston engine aircraft; a total of nearly 8,000 were built during the production life. In addition to the production record, Model 18 also held the most US Federal Aviation Administration-approved Supplemental Type Certificates of any aircraft design (over 200), making it the most modified American aircraft. In the civilian world, they were used for a wide variety of functions, including pesticide spraying, fish seeding, firefighting, ambulance service, and cargo and passenger transportation.


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## fnqvmuch (Nov 10, 2010)

my turn to thank you gekho, for some extremely enjoyable threads. I look forward to seeing them and dread the inevitable runout ...
One question a lot of planes in their first - and often best - photos, wear an 'arrow head' on the fuselage; is that a NACA thing? 
thanks again, steven


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## gekho (Nov 10, 2010)

fnqvmuch said:


> One question a lot of planes in their first - and often best - photos, wear an 'arrow head' on the fuselage; is that a NACA thing?



Which, where, when??? I am afraid you gotta be more precise. Tell me the number of the thread.

And thank you for your words..


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## fnqvmuch (Nov 10, 2010)

gekho said:


> number of the thread..



most recent and obviously Electra 003, obscured Electra 006 ... ive seen it on lots of types but always in the evaluation stage, i think. had thought maybe something like indication of CoG for some kinda photographic data collation.


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## gekho (Nov 10, 2010)

Honestly, I have no idea; I should take notes when I find the pics, but in this case I am afraid I cannot help you. Probably you are right and it is some kind of prototype or evaluation plane...


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## gekho (Nov 10, 2010)

In March 1940, the Curtiss-Wright company first flew a new 36-seat commercial airliner design, designated the CW-20. The US Army became interested in the aircraft for its cargo/transport capabilities, and ordered a militarized version, the C-46 Commando, be produced, utilizing two 2,000-hp Pratt Whitney R-2800-43 engines. The Commando entered service with the USAAF in July 1942, becoming the largest and heaviest twin-engine aircraft in the Air Corps. The first major variant to appear was the C-46A, which had a large cargo door in the left rear fuselage, 40 folding seats, a strengthened cargo floor, and higher-altitude capable engines. This last feature was to become important when the C-46 began flying cargo "over the Hump" from India to China. The C-46 was found to have much better load-hauling capabilities than the C-47 at the altitudes involved. The Commando also served in the Pacific theater, where it moved troops and supplies from island to island, contributing to the defeat of Japan. In the European Theater, C-46s served as glider tugs, towing two CG-4 gliders at a time across the Rhine River.

Other versions of the aircraft included the R5C-1 (US Navy/Marine Corps designation); the C-46D (personnel version with an extra door on the right side); C-46E (utility version with C-46A doors and a stepped windscreen); and C-46F (cargo model with doors on both sides and square wingtip ends). Well over 3,000 Commandos were built, and they remained in service through the Korean War. A few even served during the first years of the war in Vietnam. Today, a small number continue to fly in various capacities around the world, mostly as freighters in Central and South America.


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## gekho (Nov 10, 2010)

The USAAF was enthusiastic about the Commando, and a total of 1,479 C-46s and C-46As were built by Curtiss in plants at Buffalo (1,039 "C-46A-CU" Commandos), Saint Louis (two "C-46A-CS" Commandos), and Louisville, Kentucky (438 "C-46A-CK" Commandos). They were flown by the US Army Air Transport Command, Air Service Command, and Troop Carrier Command. About 40 C-46As were passed on to the US Marine Corps with the designation "R5C-1", and some of these aircraft were later passed on to the US Naval Air Transport Command in turn. Demand for the type was so great that the USAAF placed an order for 500 C-46A Commandos with Higgins Industries, famed for construction of landing craft and torpedo boats, but only two "C-46A-HI" Commandos were actually built by Higgins, being delivered in October 1944.

The Commando initially went into service on the South Atlantic ferry route, and would also participate as a glider tug in the Rhine crossings in March 1945. However, due to its long range, it was primarily used in the Pacific and China-Burma-India (CBI) theaters, becoming the primary cargolifter for ferrying supplies from India to China over "the Hump", the Himalaya Mountains, after the Japanese shut down the Burma Road in 1943. Commandos of Colonel Edward H. Alexander's "India-China Wing" of the USAAF Air Transport Command flew from primitive airstrips in the Indian state of Assam, climbing with overload cargoes to clear ridges from 3.7 to 4.3 kilometers (12,000 to 14,000 feet) high, to land at Chunking and drop off their loads for USAAF General Claire Chennault's 14th Air Force and Nationalist Chinese forces.

The loss rate of the C-46 was high and it had a mixed reputation with aircrews. Partly the problem was the fact that environment was very harsh, operating conditions were difficult, and Japanese fighters were an occasional threat. During one attack, Captain Wally A. Gayda shoved a Browning Automatic Rifle out one of the forward cabin windows and shot down the attacker. However, stories still circulate that the C-46 also suffered from a large number of engineering and manufacturing faults, in particular a leaky hydraulic system. Crews were said to take a barrel of hydraulic fluid along on flights to make sure that the hydraulic systems were topped off before they were used. There was also apparently a fuel leak problem that took a long time to work out, with aircraft being lost in midair explosions at a steady rate until it was. It doesn't appear that the C-46 was an inherently bad aircraft, it was just rushed into service without the level of qualification that it would have been run through in peacetime, and it took a lot of work to get the bugs fixed. The aircraft's detractors called it the "Curtiss Calamity" and the "Leaky Tiki", though it was also more affectionately named "Dumbo", after the flying baby elephant in Walt Disney's 1941 animated movie.


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## Airframes (Nov 10, 2010)

Great pics again, thanks. I think the 'arrow head' mentioned above is the Lockheed badge.


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## Shortround6 (Nov 10, 2010)

fnqvmuch said:


> most recent and obviously Electra 003, obscured Electra 006 ... ive seen it on lots of types but always in the evaluation stage, i think. had thought maybe something like indication of CoG for some kinda photographic data collation.



I believe it is an emblem/badge for Wright field.

Wright Field being the Army base were most evaluations and testing was done.


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## fnqvmuch (Nov 10, 2010)

oh WRIGHT - while just the shape on the Republic and Martin, it says as much in big white caps on the North American ...
steven


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## vikingBerserker (Nov 10, 2010)

Great pics!


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## gekho (Nov 11, 2010)

The Douglas DC-3 is an American fixed-wing, propeller-driven aircraft whose speed and range revolutionized air transport in the 1930s and 1940s. Because of its lasting impact on the airline industry and World War II it is generally regarded as one of the most significant transport aircraft ever made. Many DC-3s are still used in all parts of the world. The initial design for the DC-3 was a product of conversations between the president of American Airlines, C.R. Smith, and Donald Douglas in 1935. American inaugurated passenger service on June 26, 1936, with simultaneous flights from Newark, N.J. and Chicago, IL.[4] Early U.S. airlines like American, United, TWA and Eastern ordered over 400 DC-3s. These fleets paved the way for the modern American air travel industry, quickly replacing trains as the favored means of long-distance travel across the United States.

During World War II, many civilian DC-3s were drafted for the war effort and just over 10,000 US military versions of the DC-3 were built, under the designations C-47, C-53, R4D, and Dakota. Peak production was reached in 1944, with 4,853 being delivered. The armed forces of many countries used the DC-3 and its military variants for the transport of troops, cargo, and wounded. Licensed copies of the DC-3 were built in Japan as Showa L2D (487 aircraft) and in the USSR as the Lisunov Li-2 (4937 aircraft). Thousands of surplus C-47s, previously operated by several air forces, were converted for civilian use after the war and became the standard equipment of almost all the world's airlines, remaining in front line service for many years. The ready availability of cheap, easily-maintained ex-military C-47s, both large and fast by the standards of the day, jump-started the worldwide post-war air transport industry. While aviation in pre-war Continental Europe had used the metric system, the overwhelming dominance of C-47s and other US war-surplus types cemented the use of nautical miles, knots and feet in post-war aviation throughout the world.


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## gekho (Nov 11, 2010)

Douglas had developed an improved version, the Super DC-3, with more engine power, greater cargo capacity, and a different wing but, with all the bargain-priced surplus aircraft available, this did not sell well in the civil aviation market. Only five were delivered, three of them to Capital Airlines. The U.S. Navy had 100 of their early R4Ds converted to Super DC-3 standard during the early 1950s as the R4D-8, later C-117D. The last U.S. Navy C-117 was retired 12 July 1976. Several remained in service with small airlines in North and South America in 2006. A number of aircraft companies attempted to design a "DC-3 replacement" over the next three decades (including the very successful Fokker F27 Friendship) but no single type could match the versatility, rugged reliability, and economy of the DC-3. It remained a significant part of air transport systems well into the 1970s.

December 17, 2010, marks the 75th anniversary of the DC-3's first flight, and there are still small operators with DC-3s in revenue service and as cargo aircraft. The common saying among aviation buffs and pilots is that "the only replacement for a DC-3 is another DC-3." The aircraft's legendary ruggedness is enshrined in the lighthearted description of the DC-3 as "a collection of parts flying in loose formation." Its ability to take off and land on grass or dirt runways makes it popular in developing countries, where runways are not always paved. Some of the uses of the DC-3 have included aerial spraying, freight transport, passenger service, military transport, and sport skydiving shuttling and sightseeing.


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## gekho (Nov 11, 2010)

Used as a cargo transport to fly the notorious "Hump" over the Himalayas after the Japanese closed the Burma Road, and as a paratroop carrier in various campaigns from Normandy to New Guinea, the Douglas C-47 was one of the prime people movers of WWII where, in one form or another, it was manufactured by belligerents on both sides, after first having been licensed to Mitsui before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and to the Russians, who manufactured it under license as the Lisunov Li-2. During the war, Mitsui built their own version, via contract with the Showa and Nakajima companies, which built about 485 "Tabbys" (the code name given to the aircraft by the Allies) as the Showa L2D.

Known also as "Dakota" (British designation), R4D (U.S. Navy), "Skytrooper" and "Gooney Bird," the Douglas C-47 (USAAF) went through many modifications during its long service life, largely with respect to engine power ratings, but also with structural modifications for specific tasks like reconnaissance and navigation training. It was even tested as a floatplane, and as an engineless glider, a task it performed well, but too late in the war to matter. It was also used as a fighting machine as the AC-47D gunship ("Puff, the Magic Dragon") of the Vietnam war, where the plane was equipped with three modernized Gattling guns (General Electric 7.62mm "Miniguns," each mounted and firing from the port side) for use as a "target suppressor," circling a target and laying down massive fire to eliminate or at least subdue the enemy position.


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## gekho (Nov 12, 2010)

More pics


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## gekho (Nov 12, 2010)

C-54s began service with the US Army Air Forces in 1942, carrying up to 26 passengers. (Later versions carried up to 50 passengers.) The U.S. Navy also acquired the type, under the designation R5D. The C-54 was one of the most commonly used long-range transports by the U.S. armed forces in World War II. 515 C-54s were manufactured in Santa Monica, California and 655 were manufactured in Chicago, Illinois. After World War II, the C-54 continued to serve as the primary airlifter of the new United States Air Force and with the United States Navy.

In late 1945, several hundred C-54s were surplus to U.S. military requirements and these were converted for civil airline operation, many by Douglas Aircraft at its aircraft plants. The aircraft were sold to airlines around the world. By January 1946, Pan American Airways was operating their Skymasters on transatlantic scheduled services to Europe and beyond. Trans-Pacific schedules from San Francisco to Auckland began on 6 June 1946. On July 23, 1954, a Douglas C-54 Skymaster civilian airliner, registration VR-HEU, operated by Cathay Pacific Airways, en route from Bangkok to Hong Kong, was shot down by Chinese Communist La-7 fighters off the coast of Hainan Island, killing 10.

President Harry S. Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947, which created the U.S. Air Force, on board "Sacred Cow", the Presidential C-54 which is preserved at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. More than 300 C-54s and R5Ds formed the backbone of the US contribution to the Berlin Airlift in 1948. They also served as the main airlift during the Korean War. After the Korean War, the C-54 was replaced by the Douglas C-124 Globemaster II, but continued to be used by the U.S. Air Force until 1972.

The C-54 was the personal aircraft of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Douglas MacArthur, and Winston Churchill (along with an Avro York). The C-54 was also used by the Royal Air Force, the Armée de l'Air, and the armed forces of at least twelve other nations. The last active C-54 Skymaster in U.S. Navy service (C-54Q, BuNo 56501, of the Navy Test Pilot School, NAS Patuxent River) was retired on 2 April 1974


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## vikingBerserker (Nov 12, 2010)

Great info, thanks!


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## gekho (Nov 17, 2010)

More pics


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## gekho (Nov 17, 2010)

The prototype of the Lockheed Model 18, which first flew in 1939, was constructed from one of a batch of Lockheed Model 14 Super Electras which had been returned to the manufacturer by Northwest Airlines after a series of crashes of Model 14s. The fuselage was lengthened by 5 ft (1.5 m), enabling the fitting of two more rows of seats and hopefully making the aircraft more economical to operate. However, most US airlines were by then committed to purchasing the Douglas DC-3, and Lockheed found the Lodestar difficult to sell at home. A total of 625 Lodestars of all variants were built.

Overseas sales were a little better, with 29 bought by the government of the Netherlands East Indies. South African Airways, Trans-Canada Air Lines and BOAC were the biggest airline customers. Various Pratt Whitney and Wright Cyclone powerplants were installed. When the United States started to build up its military air strength in 1940–41, American operated, plus many new-build Lodestars were flown by the Army Air Force and U.S. Navy under various designations. Lend-lease aircraft were used by the RNZAF as transports.


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## Gnomey (Nov 17, 2010)

Nice stuff!


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## vikingBerserker (Nov 17, 2010)

Excellent!


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## gekho (Nov 18, 2010)

The C-87 was hastily designed in early 1942 to fulfill the need for a heavy cargo and personnel transport with longer range and better high-altitude performance than the C-47 Skytrain, the most widely available United States Army Air Forces transport aircraft at the time. The first C-87 prototype was based on a damaged B-24D, serial #42-40355, that crashed at Tucson Municipal Airport #2 on 17 February 1943. Six Consolidated Aircraft employees riding as passengers were killed and several others were injured.

The prototype was converted into a transport configuration by various modifications, including deletion of the gun turrets and other armament along with the installation of a strengthened cargo floor, including a floor running through the bomb bay. The glassed-in bombardier compartment of the B-24 was replaced by a hinged metal cap to allow front cargo loading. A cargo door was added to the port side of the fuselage, just forward of the tail, and a row of windows was fitted along the sides of the fuselage.

The C-87 could be fitted with removable seats and racks to carry personnel or litters in place of cargo. In its final configuration, the C-87 could carry between 20 and 25 passengers or 12,000 lbs of cargo. Because of war production bottlenecks and shortages, many C-87 aircraft were fitted with turbosuperchargers producing lower boost pressure and power than those fitted to B-24s destined for combat use, and ceiling and climb rate were accordingly adversely affected.


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## gekho (Nov 18, 2010)

Most C-87s were operated by the U.S. Air Transport Command and flown by civilian crews from U.S. civil airlines. The planes were initially used on transoceanic routes too long to be flown by the C-47. After the Japanese invasion of Burma in 1942, the C-87 was used for flying war material from India to besieged Chinese forces over "The Hump", the treacherous air route that crossed the Himalayas. When the route was established, the C-87 was the only readily available American transport with high-altitude performance good enough to fly this route while carrying a large cargo load.

The C-87 was plagued by numerous problems and suffered from a poor reputation amongst its crews. Ernest K. Gann, in Fate is the Hunter said, "They were an evil bastard contraption, nothing like the relatively efficient B-24 except in appearance." Complaints centered around the clumsy flight control layout, frequent engine problems, hydraulic leaks, and a disconcerting tendency to lose electrical power in the cockpit during takeoff and landing. The C-87 did not climb well when heavily loaded, a dangerous characteristic when flying out of the unimproved, rain-soaked airfields of India and China; many were lost in collisions with terrain soon after takeoff. Ernest K. Gann's book recounts a near-collision with the Taj Mahal after takeoff in a heavily loaded C-87. The aircraft's auxiliary long-range fuel tanks were linked by improvised and often leaky fuel lines that crisscrossed the crew compartment, choking flight crews with noxious gasoline fumes and creating an explosion hazard. The C-87 also had a tendency to enter an uncontrollable stall or spin in the event of inflight airframe icing, a frequent occurrence over the Himalayas in the days before accurate weather forecasting (Gann said they "...could not carry enough ice to chill a highball").

The aircraft could also become unstable in flight if its center of gravity shifted due to improper cargo loading. This longitudinal instability arose from the aircraft's hasty conversion from bomber to cargo transport. Unlike a normal cargo transport, which was designed from the start with a contiguous cargo compartment with a safety margin for fore-and-aft loading variations, the bomb racks and bomb bays built into the B-24 design were fixed in position, greatly limiting the aircraft's ability to tolerate improper loading. This problem was exacerbated by wartime exigencies and the failure of USAAF Air Transport Command to instruct loadmasters in the C-87's peculiarities. The design's roots as a bomber are also considered culpable for frequently collapsing nosegear; its strength was adequate for an aircraft that dropped its payload in flight before landing on a well-maintained runway, but it proved marginal for an aircraft making repeated hard landings on rugged unimproved airstrips while heavily loaded.

The C-87 was rapidly displaced on the front lines by the Douglas C-54 Skymaster and Curtiss-Wright C-46 Commando, which offered similar high-altitude performance combined with greater reliability and more benign flight characteristics. Some surviving C-87 aircraft were converted into VIP transports or flight crew trainers, and several others were sold to the Royal Air Force.


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## vikingBerserker (Nov 18, 2010)

I ahve to admit, the nose door was pretty ingenious.


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## gekho (Nov 19, 2010)

Nore pics

Reactions: Like Like:
1 | Like List reactions


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## gekho (Nov 19, 2010)

Well, this is it; the last group of pictures. I hope you have enjoyed this endless thread. I knew it was going to be big, but it has lasted more than I expected. Next monday I will star a new one about british bombers and transport aircrafts.

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## fnqvmuch (Nov 19, 2010)

thank you gekho, hope you know how much we look forward to your next...


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## Gnomey (Nov 23, 2010)

Good stuff!


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## gekho (Dec 23, 2010)

More pics


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## johnbr (Sep 2, 2017)



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## Wurger (Sep 2, 2017)




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## Old Wizard (Sep 2, 2017)




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## johnbr (Oct 25, 2018)

B-28

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## vikingBerserker (Oct 25, 2018)

Nice!


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