Boeing XB-15

[Archangel]

wl, ive heard about this aircraft, and its told that you could crouch into the wing, and do repairs during the flight. ( on he engines )

ive serced on the internet, b had no luck so far of finding a nice photo of the interrior.
does someone of you has one?

( its the bigger brother of the b-17 )

 

[Parmigiano]

was one of the bombers under the 'hemisphere defender' concept, initially designed with XBLR (bomber long range)

I have some documentation about XBLR 15, 18 and a couple of others, will search my files later today.

main problem for all the projects was the lack of power, or (better) was the unavailability in the '30 of engines powerful enough to make the big birds effective.

The 'operative' output of the concept was of course the B36, when engines in the 3000 HP range were available.

 

[trackend]

Is it the angle of the shot ? cause it has one hell of a wing span.

 

[v2]

look at that:

http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/research/bombers/b2-11.htm

 

[Archangel]

great find all, but i'm looking for a picture of the inside of the wing,
because im really interested how the planned on repairing a damaged engine during flight.

 

[Parmigiano]

No luck for the inside of the wings, but the magazine item confirmed that there was a 'tunnel' in the wings between the cockpit area and the engines to allow in flight maintenance.
A small picture shows a 'door' in the engine nacelle, probably giving external access to the maintenance area behind the engine.

and the other picture proves that the bird had a HUGE wing...

All pictures scanned from 'Aerei nella Storia, West-Ward Edizioni, June-July 2004 - www.aereinellastoria.it

 

[Nonskimmer]

Interesting stuff. Even though I don't read Italian.
The link from v2 was interesting too, as I do read English.


...sort of.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

wow, the itallian for Pratt and Whitney R-1830-11 Twin Wasp Senior is... Pratt and Whitney R-1830-11 Twin Wasp Senior, well i've learnt some italian!

a very interesting nose turret set up too.........

 

[FLYBOYJ]

great find all, but i'm looking for a picture of the inside of the wing,
because im really interested how the planned on repairing a damaged engine during flight.

I could tell you this much, the only thing the mechanic could of done on those engines while in flight were maybe change some hoses and engine accessories, the accessories gear box is on the rear of the engine. I wonder how tight it was in there and how much access the mechanic would have?!?

To me, if I'm flying on an aircraft where mechanics have access to the engines to make repairs in flight, well something is terribly wrong!

 

[wmaxt]

What makes me nervous is when they bring an extra engine along too.

wmaxt

 

[Gnomey]

What makes me nervous is when they bring an extra engine along too.

wmaxt

That would make me worried too wmaxt. Nice pics Parm.

 

[Archangel]

I wonder how tight it was in there and how much access the mechanic would have?!?

thats one of the things why i asked this question too


tough,.. the concept of this plane is one of the things that made boeing really big

 

[evangilder]

If memory serves correctly, The XB-15 was the predecessor to the B-17.

 

[Archangel]

that's correct.
you could call him te b-17's big broter

 

[cheddar cheese]

Wasnt there another predecessor to the B-17? Was it the XB-19?

 

[Tomahawk101]

Awesome plane!

Is it true that it has been found in Panama?
It would be wicked if it was either: restored to flying condition or restored to flying condition and operated again.

The XB-15 is revolutionary, I mean how many 1937 planes do you know that had de-icing equipment, automatic pilot and wings large enough the crew could fit inside them? Oh, and how many 1937 planes could transport 31,205 lbs of cargo at 8,200 feet?

XB-15 FTW!

 

[verner]

This was how you fixed da wing. Cheers

 

[vikingBerserker]

Nice!

 

[verner]

Yowsa.

 

[johnbr]