Douglas XB-19
Douglas XB-19 | |
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Douglas XB-19, 1941 |
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Type: | Strategic bomber |
Design country: | |
Manufacturer: | |
First flight: |
June 27, 1941 |
Commissioning: |
1941 |
Production time: |
Was never mass-produced |
Number of pieces: |
1 |
The Douglas XB-19 is an American long-range bomber of which only a prototype was built.
history
The aircraft was developed in the period before World War II and was part of a program to modernize the US Air Force. It was developed under the project name XBLR-2 (Experimental status, Bomber, Long Range, Model 2) and was the largest bomber in the United States before World War II, at the same time the largest aircraft built in the United States to date and the largest four-engine aircraft of the World. Only the Convair B-36 from 1946 was 12% larger in the sum of its wingspan and length.
The main landing gear consisted of two huge wheels, each 2.44 m in diameter. The first flight of the machine takes place on June 27, 1941 from Long Beach . Because the construction took so long, the US Army concluded additional contracts for the XB-35 and XB-36 in 1941 . In 1943 new 1940 kW Allison V-3420-11 V-engines were installed and the machine is now referred to as the XB-19A .
The aircraft was subsequently used as a transport aircraft, but was hardly used after August 1945 and scrapped at Davis-Monthan AFB in 1949 .
Technical specifications
Parameter | Data of the XB-19A |
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crew | 10 |
length | 40.23 m |
Wingspan | 64.62 m |
Wing area | 417.31 m² |
height | 13.03 m |
Max. Takeoff mass | 74,390 kg |
drive | four Wright R-3350 -5 Cyclone with 1,471 kW (2,000 PS) each, later four Allison V-3420 -11 with 1,940 kW (2,638 PS) each |
Top speed | 336 km / h |
Range | 12,478 km |
Service ceiling | 6,700 m |
Armament | two 37 mm machine guns five 12.7 mm machine guns six 7.62 mm machine guns 16,300 kg bombs |
See also
Web links
- USAF Museum Description XB-19 ( Memento July 16, 2006 on the Internet Archive )
- USAF Museum Description XB-19A ( Memento dated June 30, 2006 on the Internet Archive )
Individual evidence
- ^ Bill Gunston: A Monster from Santa Monica , Airplane Monthly, Dec 1991, p. 721