Most Beautiful Aircraft of WW2?

[Elvis]

The Douglas B19 Hemisphere Defender
Definitely a beautiful beast.

New to me. That is one slick little honey.
...also...
P-40 chase plane. Another beauty!

 

[Donivanp]

New to me. That is one slick little honey.
...also...
P-40 chase plane. Another beauty!

But the B-19 was anything but"little" in its heyday! But yes on the P-40.

 

[Donivanp]

But the B-19 was anything but"little" in its heyday! But yes on the P-40.

Actually even by today's standards it's BIG

General characteristics

• Crew: 16 combat crew, with provision for 2 additional flight mechanics and six-man relief crew
• Length: 132 ft 4 in (40.34 m)
• Wingspan: 212 ft 0 in (64.62 m)
• Height: 42 ft 0 in (12.80 m)
• Wing area: 4,285 sq ft (398.1 m2​)
• Empty weight: 86,000 lb (39,009 kg)
• Gross weight: 140,000 lb (63,503 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 162,000 lb (73,482 kg)
• Fuel capacity: 10,350 US gal (8,620 imp gal; 39,200 L) internals with optional auxiliary tanks of 824 US gal (686 imp gal; 3,120 L) capacity
• Powerplant: 4 × Wright R-3350-5 Duplex Cyclone 18-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engines, 2,000 hp (1,500 kW) each [d]​
• Propellers: 3-bladed constant-speed metal propellers, 17 ft 0 in (5.18 m) diameter

Douglas XB-19 - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[GrauGeist]

The main feature of the B-19 was not just it's size, but it's range and useful lift ability.

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

I still think it's fugly. Sorry guys, I'll scuttle out at this point, but ... fugly.

 

[Donivanp]

The main feature of the B-19 was not just it's size, but it's range and useful lift ability.

True but it was a test bed that was before things were ready. Under powered and to slow to do the bombing job. But pushed the limits of the day. Soon after much more powerful engines would be introduced that would solve much of its problems. The B-36 was the true result of the B-19.

 

[fannum]

Since we've already stretched WWII, let me ask you to consider the amazingly sleek Ambrosini Sagittario, an Italian aerodynamic research aircraft based on the Ambrosini SAI.7, an Italian racer flown before World War II which entered production as a military fighter/trainer.

In the early '50s the metal fuselage was fitted with wooden 45 degree swept wings and tail and a Turbomeca Marboré turbojet installed with the exhaust was routed out the bottom of the fuselage. The tail wheel was retained, so special shielding was added to protect it from the engine exhaust.

The later all metal Aerfer Sagittario 2 differed in having a tricycle undercarriage and rather ugly fully transparent cockpit glazing, exceeding Mach 1 in a dive, the first Italian craft to do so.

 

[SaparotRob]

A new one for me!