American bombers and transport aircrafts

[Gnomey]

Good stuff!

 

[vikingBerserker]

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

 

[mudpuppy]

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

 

[gekho]

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.

 

[gekho]

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.

 

[gekho]

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.

 

[Capt. Vick]

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

 

[Capt. Vick]

Duplicate Post

 

[Shortround6]

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?

 

[gekho]

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.

 

[gekho]

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.

 

[Matt308]

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.

 

[Glider]

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.

 

[vikingBerserker]

I does look like a hotrod though.

 

[gekho]

Deleted

 

[gekho]

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.

 

[gekho]

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.

 

[gekho]

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.

 

[gekho]

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.

 

[gekho]

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.)