Douglas B-18, part three

 

The Douglas B-18 was an American designed and manufactured medium bomber which was employed by the United Army Air Corps (USAAC) and the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) during the late 1930s and early 1940s.

When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and waged war on the USA, a new theatre of war was opened in the Pacific Ocean, with most of the B-18 bombers based overseas in the Philippines and Hawaii. Most of those based in Hawaii were destroyed on the ground during the initial Japanese attack, just like the ones based in the Philippines, and the few ones that remained, played no significant role during subsequent operations. 

The B-18 based in continental USA and the Caribbean, were deployed in a defensive role, in order to prevent any possible attack in the American mainland. However, those attacks never took place and the Boeing B-17 replaced the B-18 in the frontline service in 1942. After this, 122 B-18As were modified for anti-submarine warfare operations. The bomb aimer position was replaced by a search radar fitted inside a large radome and magnetic anomaly detector (MAD) equipment was sometimes fit in a tail boom. Those aircrafts, known as the B-18B, were deployed and used in the Caribbean on anti-submarine patrols. On 2nd October 1942, a single B-18A, piloted by Cpt. Howard Burhanna Jr. , belonging to the 99th Bomb Squadron, dropped depth charges and sank the German submarine U-512 north of Cayenne, off the shores of the French Guiana. 

In the anti-submarine role, they were replaced, in 1943 by the Consolidated B-24 Liberator, which offered much better payload and had greater range, thanks to which, the mid-Atlantic gap was finally closed.

Surviving B-18s of the USAAF were eventually used as trainers and transports within continental United States. A total of two B-18A were reformed as unarmed cargo transports and received the denomination of C-58. An improved version, named XB-22, powered by the Wright R-2600-3 radial engines was proposed, back in 1938, but it was never built as Douglas focused on the B-23 Dragon light bomber.

After the war, the remaining bombers were sold as surplus on the commercial market and some of them were used as cargo or crop-sprayers by commercial operators.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_B-18_Bolo

2. https://www.valka.cz/Douglas-B-18-t72780

3. http://www.aviation-history.com/douglas/b18.html

Vought XSO2U

During the late 1930s the U.S. Navy developed a set of specifications for a new scout-airplane capable of operating from cruisers in the reconnaissance and gunnery spotting roles. This new machine was intended to replace the Curtiss SOC Seagull biplane. This aircraft was required to have folding wings, a superior range and speed to that of the Seagull, it had to be powered by the Fairchild Ranger V-770 inline engine.
Both Vought-Sikorsky and Curtiss-Wright submitted their designs. Vought's design, named internally as Model 403, was identical to the Vought Kingfisher, which was back then in development, intended to replace the Seagull on Battleships, but had its wings moved higher on the fuselage, when compared to the Kingfisher, and it was different in the attachment method used by its single floater landing gear. Additionally, the radial engine of the Kingfisher was replaced by the Ranger V-770 inline engine which yielded 450 hp of power.
The XSO2U was capable of operating both on floats as a seaplane, or with a conventional fixed undercarriage, as a landplane. It was entirely made out of metal with the exception of its control surfaces which were fabric-covered. The wings could be folded to rear for storage in a way similar to those of the Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bomber.
The aircraft had diving bombing capabilities and could be fitted with a single bomb or depth charge on hardpoints under each wing. It was armed with two M2 0.5 in (12,7 mm) Browning machine guns, one forward firing through the propeller using synchroniser gear and the other in a flexible position in the observer's cockpit for defensive purposes.
The XSO2U flew for the first time in July 1939 in the landplane configuration and it wasn't until December that year that it flew with floaters. Flight testing showed that the aircraft lacked directional stability, but the addition of a larger ventral fin, connecting the rear of the float to the tail, helped to solve the problem.
It also suffered from engine problems as the Ranger engine wasn't known for its reliability. It was particularly prone to overheat and a solution for that problem could never be found. The prototype's original engine, V-770-4 was replaced by a XV-770-6 which featured a repositioned oil cooler, but the problem persisted.
In spite of the engine's overheating problems, it was considered superior to the competing Curtiss XSO3C-1 Seamew. However, Vought's manufacturing capacity was already taken by the Kingfisher and the F4U Corsair fighter (the first version of which was already into production in 1942), so the XSO3C-1 was considered as the winner of the contract and entered, therefore, into production.
After the competition, the XSO2U was used as a general utility aircraft and hack by the US Navy, before being given to the Ranger Engine Corporation in July 1942 for testing the V-770 engine. This testing was intended to help debugging for the Bell XP-77 light fighter and the Edo XOSE floatplane. The engine kept on being problematic and, after two years of testing, it was returned to the US Navy. As the airplane had no use for the Navy, it was therefore written off on 6th July 1944 and was subsequently scrapped.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vought_XSO2U
2. Mc Farland - United States Naval Aviation, 1919-1941
3. Signal Squadron - Aircraft In action 119 - Vought OS2U Kingfisher in Action

Convair F2Y Sea Dart

The Sea Dart was Convair's candidate for a 1948 US Navy contest for a supersonic interceptor aircraft. As back in the year there was a lot of skepticism about operating supersonic aircrafts from carrier decks, the US Navy ordered many subsonic fighters. The worry has some foundations as most of supersonic designs of the time required long takeoff rolls, had high speed approach speeds and weren't easy to control, which were all troublesome factors to operate from a carrier.
Therefore, Convair's designer Ernest Stout and his team faced the challenge of putting one of their, back then, most successful designs, the Convair F-102 Delta Dagger on water skis. Their proposal attracted the attention of US Navy's authorities and they were awarded with a contract of two prototypes in late 1951 with twelve further production ones even before the prototype had flown.
The prototypes were to be powered by two afterburning Westinghouse J46-WE-2 turbojets which yielded 6100lbf (27Kn) each with the feds for the intakes mounted high above the wings to avoid ingesting spray. However, as those engines weren't available by the time the prototypes flew, they were powered by two Westinghouse J34-WE-32 which yiekded half of the power.
They were planned to be armed with four 20mm Colt Mk.12 cannons and one battery of folding-fin unguided rockets, however, not any armament was fitted to the prototypes. As the aircrafts in this order were considered as service test vehicles, an additional eight production aircrafts were ordered as well.
It was delta-winged fighter with a watertight hull and twin-retractable hydro-skis for take-off and landing. When stationed or moving slowly in the water, it floated with the trailing edge of the wings touching the water and the skis weren't extended until it reached the speed of around 10mph (16km/h) during the takeoff run.
The prototypes saw two ski configurations. The first of them mounted with just one and the second one mounted with the twin-ski configuration. The first type of configuration proved to be more successful than the second, and the testing of many ski configurations continued until 1957, even after the aircraft was put into storage.
As the US Navy was already losing interest on the type, they considered the type that maybe could fit in the internal arrangement for a submarine aircraft carrier that could carry three of these aircrafts, stored in a chamber that wouldn't protrude from the hull and they would be raised by an elevator just aft of the sail and set to take-off on their own on a smooth sea, but catapulted aft in higher sea. The project didn't go beyond the initial sketches phase as two problems weren't addressed, the hole for the elevator would've seriously weakened the structure and the load of a laden elevator would be hard to transmit to the hull structure.
The first prototype was built at Convair's San Diego, California, facility Lindbergh field and was taken to San Diego bay for testing in November 1952 and shortly later, on 14th January 1953 with E.D. "Sam" Shannon at the controls it made its first unofficial flight while the official one took place in April.
Due to the underpowered engines, the aircraft was sluggish to flight and the hydro-skis weren't as successful as expected as they created violent vibrations during take-off and landing, in spite of the shock absorbing oleo legs they were extended on. The skis were reworked and the vibration problem was partially fixed but the sluggish performance problem persisted on. It wasn't capable of supersonic speed in level flight with the J34 engines and its pre-area rule shape didn't help as it created high transonic drag.
As the results of the first prototype weren't by far the expected, the second prototype was canceled, so the first prototype was modified as a service version fitted with the J46 engines, which performed worse than expected, however, speeds above mach 1 were achieve when flying above shallow waters, making it the only supersonic seaplane up to date.
Unfortunately, on 4th November 1954 it disintegrated in midair over San Diego bay during a demonstration for officials and the press, killing its test pilot, Charles E. Richbourg who was a 31-years old US Navy veteran of the World War II. Although he was quickly rescued from the water, he didn't survive the wounds caused by the airframe breakage.
Even before the accident the Navy had been loosing interest in seaplanes as the problems with supersonic fighters on carrier decks had been overcome and the crash relegated the Sea Dart into experimental status with the subsequent cancelation of all production aircrafts. The three remaining service test examples were completed but the two final ones never flew.
Despite the fact that it was officially retired and had not flown since 1957, at least one F2Y was still in storage in 1962 and, following the Tri-Service Aircraft redesignation system, it was redesignated as Convair YF-7A.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convair_F2Y_Sea_Dart
2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters
3. http://www.airvectors.net/avcmast.html

Beechcraft XA-38 Grizzly

The Beechcraft XA-38 Grizzly was a ground-attack aircraft developed by Beechcraft that was never massively produced. It was going to be fitted with a forward-firing 75mm cannon to penetrate through armoured targets.
The United States Army Air Forces awarded Beechcraft a contract in December 1942 for two prototypes of their model 28 nicknamed "Destroyer", with the requeriment of it being a powerful ground-attack aircraft that could replace the Douglas A-20 Havoc, with the ability of destroying armoured targets like tanks and bunkers. It was achieved through a 75mm cannon with 20 rounds fixed on the nose, as well as two forward-firing 0.5in (12.7mm) caliber M2 Browning Machine guns. It was armed also with two remotelly controlled dorsal and ventral turrets, each of them armed with two 0.5in (12.7mm) machine guns. It was expected to have a crew of two, a pilot and an oberserver/gunner in the rear cabin, using periscope sights to aim the guns.
On 7th May 1944 it flew for the first time at the company's airfield in Wichita, at the hands of Vern Carstens, Beechcraft's test pilot. It proved to be satisfactory in all aspects and even better than expected in others, included the top speed delivered by its two Wright R-3350-43 air cooled radial engines which yielded 2300hp (1716Kw) each.
During testing it was also tested by USAAF's pilots and serviced by military personnel, proving to be reliable and establishing a high level of serviceability.
It was going to have a payload of two underwing bombs plus an undetermined number of rockets. This armament configuration showed good results and effectiveness and if wartimes priorities didn't shift in 1944, it would've probably been mass produced, although the B-29 had priority for the Wright R-3350 engines, therefore, as it lost interest for the USAAF, the prototype was scrapped and the other, expected for the USAAF museum, had an unknown fate.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beechcraft_XA-38_Grizzly
2. https://www.plane-encyclopedia.com/ww2/us/beechcraft-xa-38-grizzly/

Martin XB-27

We make a small break from the Marauder in order to present you a never-built aircraft from Martin's.
The Martin XB-27 was a proposal by the Glenn L. Martin company to fill a need in the United States Army Air Corps for a high altitude bomber. It was strongly based on the Martin B-26 but it never went beyond the blueprints.
It was expected to be powered by two Pratt & Whitney R-2800-9 radial engines delivering each of them 2000hp (1500Kw) each, a fully pressurized cabin with a crew of seven and was going to be armed with three 0.30in machine guns, one in the nose, another dorsal one and a ventral one and a 0.50in machine gun placed in the tail and a payload of 4000lb (1800kg) of bombs in an internal bay. The expected maximum speed was 375mph (603.5Km/h).

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_XB-27
2. http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_bombers/b27.html

Martin AM Mauler, part two

The Carrier Air Group 8 (CVG-8) was created in September 1948 as a response to the Berlin blockade, and its attack squadrons, VA-84 and VA-85, were equipped with the Mauler. In January 1949 the air group made a flyover of president Harry Truman's inauguration ceremony. The squadrons conducted their qualifications aboard the USS Midway (CV-41) with ten Maulers crashing into the safety barrier between them. The CVG-8 made a two-week cruise along the east coast of the United States before being disbanded as the Berlin blockade was ,fortunatelly, peacefully resolved.
Those of the AM-1Q electronic warfare variant, served with the Composite Squadron 4 (VC-4) which was based at NAS Atlantic City, in New Jersey and were detached in smaller groups for each atlantic fleet carrier deployment. Not very much is known about their service, but it's known that they served until 1st October 1950.
There was also a projected, never built carrier onboard delivery version, called JR2M-1 Mercury that, as the Douglas Skyraider was chosen, it was cancelled.
As the Douglas Skyraider was chosen, in spite of its smaller bombload, it had better reliability and it was easier to fly and land, so the Navy pilots preferred it. In 1950 it was decided that the Mauler would serve with shore based units only and later that year every units except for the Naval Reserve abandoned the type. It operated with reserve squadrons until 1953.
It had a crew of one pilot, two in the case of the AM-1Q, a fuel deposit of 510 US Gallons (1900 litres/ 420 Imperial Gallons), it was powered by a single 3000hp Pratt & Whitney R-4360-4 Wasp Major engine which drove a big four-bladed propeller.
Its armament was impressive as it was equipped with four 20mm T-31 with 200 rounds each and had 15 hardpoints in wings and fuselage which could carry up to 12 5inch (130mm) HVAR rockets and 3 Mark 13 Torpedoes, apart from some bombs.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_AM_Mauler
2. http://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/detail.asp?aircraft_id=1066
3. http://www.aviastar.org/air/usa/martin_mauler.php

McDonnell Aircraft Corporation Model 1

Back in 1938 McDonnell founded his own company after having worked for the Martin company. The company was founded officially on 6th July 1939 in St. Louis, Missouri and soon, they submitted various designs to the United States Army Air Corps and the United States Navy. Those proposals didn't led to any order, but thanks to them, McDonnell was included in the list of USAAC's request data for R40-C in February 1940.
R40-C requested an unorthodox design capable of reaching the 450mph (724km/h) but 525mph (845km/h) were preferred, plus other features present in the XC-622 specification. McDonnell's candidate for that requeriment was their Model 1 (their first design) which was officialy proposed on 11th April 1940.
It was expected to be powered by either Allison V-3420 B2, Pratt & Whitney H-3130, Pratt & Whitney X-1800-A2G or Wright R-2160, all of the liquid cooled. Regardless of the engine, it was expected to be buried in the fuselage aft the pilot. The power of the engine was transmitted via extension shafts to a pair of four blades, two speed propellers set in a pusher configuration. The expected armament were two 0.30in calibre machine guns plus other two 20mm cannons, but it changed various times during the design process. However it was always a combination of two to four machine guns and one to four cannons.
The X-1000 and R-2160 designs didn't fill the expectations of the XC-622 specification and were dropped from the R40-C competition, while those powered by a two-stage supercharger for the H-3130, did achieve the requirements. It was however rejected due to the complicated manufacturing process as it was expected that 42 months were needed only to develop the engine and power drives for the model 1. Furthermore, it was the heaviest of the submitted models and it ranked poorly, in the 21st and 22nd of the 26 submitted candidates. It was, however, interesting enough for the USAAC to buy a wind tunnel model on 6th June 1940 for 3000$ which was the first sale of the McDonnell company to the USAAC.
The competition for the R40-C was won by the Vultee XP-54 Swoose Goose, the Curtiss XP-55 Ascender and the Northrop XP-56 Black Bullet which all of them had pusher configuration engines and resulted to be filled with too many technical difficulties to be massly manufactured. The Model 1 served, however, as the basis for the McDonnell XP-67 Moonbat which even if it wasn't a success, it was built and flew.

Sources:
1. https://oldmachinepress.com/2012/09/07/mcdonnell-aircraft-corporation-model-1/
2. http://www.centennialofflight.net/essay/Aerospace/McDonnell/Aero31.htm

McDonnell XP-67 Bat

On 29th July 1941, McDonnell Aircraft Corporation, formed on 6th July 1939 received a contract of two prototypes for its Model 23 long-range single-seat fighter that was designated XP-67 by the United States Army Air Corps and nicknamed "Bat" or "Moonbat".
It was a very innovative design which attempted to maintain true aerofoil sections throughout the entire fuselage. In fact, the centre fuselage and the rear portion of the engine nacelles were merged to give the fighter its unique appearance.
It was powered by two 1350hp Continental XI-1430 12-cylinder inverted vee engines with General Electric D-23 turbo-superchargers with exhaust thrust augmentation. The cabin was pressurised and it was going to be armed with six 37mm M4 cannons, but they never were installed in the prototype that flew for the first time on 6th January 1944 and trials were continued until 6th September 1944 when it suffered an irreparable fire damage.
That accident and the too innovative of the design, led to the abandonment of the project. It was trully a fighter ahead of its time.

Sources:
1. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_XP-67

Martinsyde F.4 Buzzard - Part three

The Martinsyde F.4 Buzzard was a British fighter designed in 1918 that was planned to enter service in the Great War. It was powered by a 300hp Hispano-Suiza 8Fb inline engine and was armed with two 0.303 Vickers machine guns placed in the front of the fuselage.
The type was expected to equip the French Aéronautique Militaire, the Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Service with more than 1500 airplanes ordered.
They served with the Spanish Aeronáutica Militar from 1922 when  10 or 12 were bought. Eight of them were sent to the African city of Melilla, while the rest were used to train pilots in Los Alcázares aerodrome, in the south of Spain. Those serving in Melilla formed the "Escuadrilla Martinsyde" until they were replaced by the Nieuport-Delage NiD.29 in 1924. After being retired from service they were used as trainers serving with the training squadron in Cuatro Vientos, in Madrid. They served there until 1931 when the Spanish Republic was declared and, as they were really outdated, they passed on to the Republican Aeronáutica Naval were they served in the base of San Javier, at the southern of Spain until the beginning of the Spanish Civil War in 1936.
Apparently one-hundred of them also served with the Soviet Workers' and Peasants' Air Fleet in 1919 until some date in the mid-late 1920s when they were retired from service.
The type also served with the Uruguayan Escuela Militar de Aeronáutica (which was the name of the predecessor of the Uruguayan Air Force) in 1925.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martinsyde_Buzzard
2.http://www.ejercitodelaire.mde.es/stweb/ea/ficheros/pdf/229800650173ACD6C1257C99003F6930.pdf (translated)
3. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters.

Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow - Possible foreign users

The Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow was tried to be sold to various foreign countries, among them United Kingdom and the United States of America, however, their national aviation industry was considered as a national interest and they rarely purchased foreign designs.
Anyway, from 1955 onwards, the UK showed some interest on the Arrow for their F.155 program which was expected to enter into service in 1962, however as time passed and it was obvious that the Arrow wouldn't be completed for that year, they focused their attention on interceptor fighters that would be ready for the end of the 1950s. Initially a thin-wing version of the Gloster Javelin was considered together with the short-range interceptor Saunders-Roe SR.177.
During April 1956 the UK's air council recommended the purchase of 144 arrows as an interim for the thin-winged Javelin which would be powered by two Bristol Olympus 7R, two Rolls-Royce Conway Stage 4 or two De Havilland Gyron. The interest became so real that even it was studied the set-up of a production line for the Arrow in the UK, however the 1957 Defence white paper cancelled almost all British manned fighter aircrafts in development back then. In January 1959 UK definitely declined the offer and they offer to sale Canada the English Electric Lightning. We have taken some liberties to imagine an improved Mk.3 version.

Regarding France, they showed interest in the Iroquis engine, in order to fit them in their Dassault Mirage IV bomber, together with another types of engines like the Bristol Olympus. However due to media speculations about the jeopardy of the Arrow being cancelled, the French government cancelled the negotiations in October 1958 and chose their native Snecma Altar. They only showed interest in the Arrow's engine, not in the interceptor as a whole, however we chosen to consider to show the Arrow in French colours for the sake of seeing it under more international colours, because... why not?

The USA, during 1954 had already a supersonic interceptor programme underway, which would eventually lead to the Convair F-106 Delta Dart (which had some similarities with the Arrow). Some of their designs were already better than the Arrow, like the Republic XF-103 or the North American XF-108 however, both of those aircrafts were cancelled as it was obvious that the Soviets were concentrating their efforts on the ICBMs and not in their strategic bombers. This assumption was taken as one of the justifications for the cancellation of the Arrow. In 1958 Avro Canada president promised the USAF a free supply of fire control system and missiles if they allowed the usage of Edwards AFB for free.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avro_Canada_CF-105_Arrow#Foreign_interest

Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck - Intended users

Merry christmas eve everyone! We come with a very brief post today as there isn't many information available.

After the Korean War had started, the USAF (United States Air Force) was in urgent need of all-weather interceptors and surveillance airplanes. The urgency was so big that they considered two foreign designs to be incorporated into USAF service, the English Electric Canberra and the Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck. The CF-100 was rejected for not having enough range and insufficient payload. In the end, the Electric Canberra was chosen and was built under license by Martin. It was known as the Martin B-57 Canberra.
As the Canuck Mk.3 was the first of the Canucks armed with a machine gun that could've been ready in time before the cease fire agreement of 1953 and considering that it was an all-weather interceptor, we decided to paint totally in black as another all-weather fighters that served in Korea during that year.

Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avro_Canada_CF-100_Canuck

Avia BH-33L & BH-33H

This is the last post before our holidays, so there won't be new post until early August.

The BH-33L was the third development of the BH-33 which was intended to be used as the standard Czechoslovak fighter and was to be known as the Ba.33.
The prototype flew for the first time in late 1929 and was introduced in 1930. It had basically the same fuselage as the BH-33E but it featured longer-span wings of greater area and was powered by one 580hp Skoda L engine. It was armed by two modified Vickers 0.303in machine guns called Mk.28 which were mounted between the cylinder banks.
It did indeed serve as the standard Czechoslovak fighter during the early 1930s.
After the end of the Czechoslovak republic in 1939, some airplanes were used by the Slovak Republic, which used then for a short period of time in training duties.

The BH-33H was a single prototype powered by a Pratt & Whitney Hornet engine, just like the Vought O2U. Most probably it was Avia's trial on introducing it to the American market.

1. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avia_BH-33

Arsenal VG-37/38/39bis/40/50

Today it's the turn of the unbuilt projects of the VG-30 variants.
There were many.
The VG-37 was a projected extended-range version of the VG-36. We couldn't find further info about it's lookings so we assumed that it would've had extra fuel tanks mounted in the wings, it should be considered as purely hypothetical as it's not based in actual blueprints.
The VG-38 was a regular VG-36 powered by an Hispano-Suiza 12Y-77 which was left unbuilt.
The VG-39bis was a regular VG-39 with the P-51 type streamlined radiator and it was intended to be the production version of the VG-39. It would've been powered by the back then, newly manufactured, Hispano-Suiza 12Z-17.
The VG-40 was another variant projected this time powered by a British Merlin III engine and, the VG-50 would've been a variant powered by an American Allison V-1710-39 engine. The designation VG-50 was also used for another trasatlantic airplane airplane that was left unbuilt.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arsenal_VG-33
2. Le Fana de l'Aviation - Arsenal VG-33