War Machines Drawn: Douglas B-18 Bolo, part two

Tuesday 26 January 2021

Douglas B-18 Bolo, part two

The Douglas B-18 Bolo was an American medium bomber designed and manufactured by Douglas in the mid-1930s.

After having been granted a production contract, an initial batch of 133 B-18 (including DB-1 -the internal name given by Douglas to the aircraft) powered by the Wright R-1820 radial engines. The last B-18 of the run, named as DB-2 by the company, had a power operated nose turret, however that design didn't come to be the standard one. Further contracts were placed in 1937 for 177 aircraft and in 1938 for 40 aircraft, though the aircraft ordered in this last batch belonged to the B-18A, which was powered by the more powerful Wright 1820-53 radial engines and featured a completely redesigned nose placing the bombardier further forward, over the nose-gunner station.

Deliveries to the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) began in the first half of 1937, with the first exemplars being handed over for testing to the Materiel Division, the Technical Training Command and the Aberdeen Proving Ground for technical testing, so the first deliveries to operational groups didn't take place until late 1937, being the 7th Bombardment Group the first one to receive the type at Hamilton Field, California.

The standard B-18, fully armed, had a maximum speed of 217 mph (349 km/h), a cruising speed of 167 mph (269 km/h) and a combat range of 850 milles (1368 km). In 1940 most of the USAAC's bomber squadrons were equipped with either the B-18 or the B-18A.

The Bolo was however, flawed, and it was becoming apparent to almost everyone. Range, speed, bomb load and specially defensive armour and armament were really outdated and the USAAC considered the aircraft as obsolete and unsuited for the long-range bombing for it was originally acquired. In fact, sending the crews in such under-armed aircraft, against more armed targets, would've been suicidal.

Although its obsolescence, the B-18/B-18A was the most numerous American bomber type deployed outside the continental United States when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. It was hoped, however, that the type could serve as an interim bomber until more suitable aircraft, such as the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, the Consolidated B-24 Liberator or even the Douglas A-20 Havoc were available in quantity.