Douglas XB-19

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Douglas XB-19
Douglas XB-19.jpg
Douglas XB-19, 1941
Type: Strategic bomber
Design country:

United States 48United States United States

Manufacturer:

Douglas Aircraft Company

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
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

Commons : Douglas XB-19  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Bill Gunston: A Monster from Santa Monica , Airplane Monthly, Dec 1991, p. 721