Boeing-Stearman AT-15

Boeing-Stearman AT-15
First prototype (USAAC serial number 41-23162)
Type:	Military training aircraft for bomber crews
Manufacturer:	Boeing-Stearman Wichita Division
First flight:	1942
Number of pieces:	2

The Boeing-Stearman AT-15 (factory designation X-120, unofficial nickname Crewmaker ) is a military training aircraft made by the American manufacturer Boeing , which had this model developed and manufactured in its Stearman division . The aircraft was intended for the training of bombers and gunmen.

history

Founded in 1926, Stearman Aircraft Corporation was taken over by Boeing as a subsidiary in 1934. In 1938 it was incorporated into the Boeing corporate structure as the Stearman Division of Boeing and three years later it was renamed the Wichita Division of the Boeing plants.

In 1941, Stearman took part in a USAAF tender for a bomber trainer . Competitive models were the Fairchild XAT-13 and XAT-14. Because of the predicted shortage of aluminum as a material due to the war, a construction using a composite construction method was proposed. The fuselage structure was designed as a fabric-covered welded tubular steel construction, while the tail unit and the wing structure consisted entirely of wood and were planked with plywood. Apart from the materials used, the aerodynamic design of the AT-15 had many similarities with the prototype XA-21 , a light bomber from Stearman. Both aircraft are designed as shoulder-wing planes and have a deep fuselage.

The XAT-15 was intended as a scaled-down bomber and should offer a full bomber crew, consisting of bombardier, pilot, copilot and gunner, appropriate training opportunities. Both prototypes were brought to Wright Field for testing in May 1942 . Later, the planes were given an initially non-existent rear tower. An assessment of the XAT-15 with regard to the intended use is not known. However, orders already placed for 1,045 machines, 325 of which were to be built by Bellanca and 360 by McDonnell , were canceled by the USAAF after the decision had been made that composite construction should no longer be used for advanced aircraft. In addition, in the course of the war more and more combat aircraft, such as the North American B-25 and Martin B-26 , were available for crew training.

The funds earmarked for the series production of the AT-15 have now been transferred to the all-wood Fairchild AT-21, with Bellanca and McDonnell also participating in the production of the twin-engine bomber training aircraft.

Technical specifications

Parameter	Data
crew	5
length	12.91 m
span	18.20 m
Wing area	42.5 m 2
Empty mass	4830 kg
Takeoff mass	5470 kg
Marching speed	296 km / h
Top speed	323 km / h
Service ceiling	5760 m
Range	1360 km
Engines	2 × Pratt & Whitney R-1340 -AN1 nine-cylinder radial engine with adjustable two-blade metal propellers
Armament	2 × movable .30-cal machine guns in bow and fuselage positions 2 × .30-cal machine guns in a power-operated tower on the back of the fuselage with up to 45 kg of exercise bombs

See also

• List of aircraft types

literature

• Peter M. Bowers : Boeing Aircraft since 1916 , Putnam & Co., 1989, ISBN 0-85177-804-6 , p. 274 f.
• ER Johnson: American Military Training Aircraft , McFarland and Co., 2015, ISBN 978-0-7864-7094-5 , pp. 141-143

Web links

Commons : Boeing XAT-15  - collection of images, videos and audio files