The Douglas XB-19 was a four-engined, piston-driven heavy bomber produced by the Douglas Aircraft Company for the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) during the early 1940s. The design was originally given the designation XBLR-2 (XBLR denoting "Experimental Bomber, Long Range"). It was the largest bomber built for the USAAF until 1946, with the Convair B-36 surpassing it in size.
Design and development
The XB-19 project was intended to test flight characteristics and design techniques for giant bombers. Despite advances in technology that made the XB-19 obsolete before it was completed, the Army Air Corps believed the prototype would be useful for testing despite Douglas Aircraft wanting to cancel the expensive project.[a] Its construction took so long that competition for the contracts to build the XB-35 and XB-36 occurred two months before its first flight.
The plane first flew on 27 June 1941, more than three years after the construction contract was awarded. It was based at Wright Field from January to November 1942.[2][b] In 1943, the Wright R-3350 engines were replaced with liquid-cooled W24Allison V-3420-11 by the aircraft division of Fisher Body in support of the XB-39 project.[4][5] As part of the program, it was equipped with engine driven auxiliary powerplants.[6][7] After completion of testing, the XB-19 was earmarked for conversion into a cargo aircraft, but modifications were not completed, and the aircraft flew for the last time on 17 August 1946. It was eventually scrapped at Tucson in June 1949.[8][9]
The new U.S. Air Force had plans to save the XB-19 for eventual display, but in 1949 the Air Force did not have a program to save historic aircraft and the Air Force Museum had not yet been built.[10][11] The XB-19 was therefore scrapped, but two of its enormous main tires were saved.[c] One was put on display at the Hill Aerospace Museum at Hill Air Force Base in Ogden, Utah and the other has been on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, in the "Early Years" gallery for many years.[13][failed verification]
Specifications (XB-19)
3-view line drawing of the Douglas XB-19
Data from McDonnell Douglas aircraft since 1920: VolumeI[14]
General characteristics
Crew: 16 combat crew, with provision for 2 additional flight mechanics and six-man relief crew
Length: 132 ft 4 in (40.34 m)
Wingspan: 212 ft 0 in (64.62 m)
Height: 42 ft 0 in (12.80 m)
Wing area: 4,285 sq ft (398.1 m2)
Empty weight: 86,000 lb (39,009 kg)
Gross weight: 140,000 lb (63,503 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 162,000 lb (73,482 kg)
Fuel capacity: 10,350 US gal (8,620 imp gal; 39,200 L) internals with optional auxiliary tanks of 824 US gal (686 imp gal; 3,120 L) capacity
^Beranek, Leo L.; Nichols, Rudolph H.; Rudmose, H. Wayne; Sleeper, Harvey P.; Wallace, Robert L.; Ericson, Harold L. (1944). Principles of Sound Control in Airplanes (Report). Office of Scientific Research and Development, National Defense Research Committee. p. 68. Retrieved 2022-02-15.
^Exner, D. W. (January 1944), "Parallel Operation of Airplane Alternators", Technical Data Digest, vol. 10, no. 1, Technical Data Library, Engineering Division, pp. 33–34, retrieved 2022-02-15
"Dedication of the New XB-19 Bomber", Air Corps News Letter, vol. 24, no. 10, Intelligence Division, Air Corps, pp. 1–2, 15 May 1941, retrieved 15 February 2022
Lynn, Bert D. (March 1945), "What Became of the B-19?", Douglas Airvew, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 8–9, 28, retrieved 15 February 2022
"Man-O'-War with Wings". Popular Mechanics. Vol. 76, no. 1. July 1941. pp. 8–11, 191. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
McLarren, Robert (November 1940). "The World's Biggest Bomber". Model Airplane News. Vol. 23, no. 5. pp. 14–15, 60–62. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
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