Boeing XPBB
| Boeing XPBB Sea Ranger | |
|---|---|
 Boeing XPBB-1, 1943 |
|
| Type: | Maritime patrol |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
July 5, 1942 |
| Commissioning: |
Flight tests ended in 1947 |
| Production time: |
Was never mass-produced |
| Number of pieces: |
1 |
The Boeing XPBB Sea Ranger was a flying boat made by the American manufacturer Boeing , which was to be used for deep-sea reconnaissance , anti-submarine combat and sea rescue . Only one prototype with the designation XPBB-1 was built, which had the US Navy serial number 03144 and the serial number 2129. At the time of its maiden flight, the Sea Ranger was the largest twin-engine aircraft ever. The mission identifier PB stood from 1935 to 1962 for "Patrol Bomber". Boeing's factory name was Model 344.
history
Development of the Sea Ranger began in early 1940. In the same year, after a thorough examination of the design documents, the US Navy placed an order with Boeing for the construction of 57 machines. For this purpose, the Renton plant on Lake Washington was built, which is still part of Boeing's production facilities today. After a significant expansion in the early 1960s, it was used to produce various Boeing airliners.
The first flight took place on July 5, 1942 with the test pilot Eddie Allen on Lake Washington. After the Battle of Midway in June 1942 it became apparent that long-range reconnaissance could also be carried out by land planes in the future; the US Navy then withdrew the production order. As a result, the Renton plant was converted for the production of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress and commissioned in 1943.
In October 1943 the prototype was transferred to Patuxent River (Maryland) and used by the then Naval Air Test Center (NATC) as a flying test vehicle for various tasks, for example as part of the development of the Martin P5M Marlin. Because of the high maintenance costs and an increasingly difficult supply of spare parts, it was decommissioned in 1947, transferred to Navy Air Station Norfolk (Virginia) and scrapped there.
construction
The Sea Ranger was designed as a twin-engine shoulder-wing aircraft. The BAC 117 was used as the wing profile, with a relative thickness of 23% at the root and 9% at the edge cap. The 5.15 m high and 3.18 m wide hull comprised two decks. The central wing contained four bomb bays that could hold up to 9,000 kg (20,000 lb) of ordnance to combat land and sea targets. When designing the structure, the designers were able to fall back on the values of the B-29 wing. With a fuel supply of 36,240 liters, the maximum flight time of the XPBB-1 was calculated at 72 hours, whereby it could have covered a distance of 18,000 km.
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Data |
|---|---|
| Crew: | 10 |
| Length: | 30.96 m |
| Span: | 44.55 m |
| Height: | 10.67 m (above the fin) 7.54 m (above the propeller circle) |
| Wing area: | 169.67 m² |
| Empty weight: | 18,838 kg |
| Takeoff weight: | 45,870 kg |
| Top speed: | 367 km / h (at 4330 m) |
| Service ceiling: | 5800 m |
| Range: | 10,140 km |
| Armament: | Four 12.7 mm machine guns in twin turrets at the front and rear |
| Engines: | Two 18-cylinder double radial engines Wright XR-3350-8 Double Cyclone, each with 2300 hp starting power. Curtiss Electric three-bladed, all-metal propellers, 5.13 m in diameter. |
See also
literature
- Hans Redemann: Boeing XPBB-1 Sea Ranger , Flug-Revue, June 1982
- William Green: War Planes of the Second World War, Vol. V , McDonald & Co. Pub., 1962
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ John M. Andrade: US Military Aircraft Designations and Serials, 1979, p. 210