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. 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. In 1943, the Wright R-3350 engines were replaced with liquid-cooled W24 Allison V-3420-11 by the aircraft division of Fisher Body in support of the XB-39 project. As part of the program, it was equipped with engine driven auxiliary powerplants. 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.
Surviving artifacts
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. The XB-19 was therefore scrapped, but two of its enormous main tires were saved.
Specifications (XB-19)
Data from McDonnell Douglas aircraft since 1920: Volume IGeneral 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 Powerplant: 4 × Wright R-3350-5 Duplex Cyclone 18-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engines, 2,000 hp (1,500 kW) each Propellers: 3-bladed constant-speed metal propellers, 17 ft 0 in (5.18 m) diameter Performance
Maximum speed: 224 mph (360 km/h, 195 kn) at 15,700 ft (4,800 m) Cruise speed: 135 mph (217 km/h, 117 kn) Range: 5,200 mi (8,400 km, 4,500 nmi) Ferry range: 7,710 mi (12,410 km, 6,700 nmi) with auxiliary tanks fitted Service ceiling: 23,000 ft (7,000 m) Rate of climb: 650 ft/min (3.3 m/s) Wing loading: 32.6 lb/sq ft (159 kg/m2) Power/mass: 0.057 hp/lb (0.094 kW/kg) Armament
Guns: 5 × 0.5 in (12.70 mm) M2 Browning machine guns 6 × 0.3 in (7.62 mm) M1919 Browning machine guns 2 × 37 mm (1.457 in) M4 autocannon Bombs: 18,700 lb (8,500 kg) internal; maximum bomb load of 37,100 lb (16,800 kg) including external racks with reduced fuel load
See also
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
Boeing XB-15 Boeing Y1B-20 Sikorsky XBLR-3
Related lists
List of bomber aircraft List of aircraft of World War II List of military aircraft of the United States
References
Footnotes
Notes
Further reading
Boone, Andrew R. (December 1940). "Uncle Sam Builds a Europe-and-Back Warplane". Popular Science. Vol. 137, no. 6. pp. 56–59. Retrieved 15 February 2022. "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. "Monster Warbird B-19 Tries Out Its Wings". Popular Mechanics. Vol. 76, no. 3. September 1941. p. 27. Retrieved 15 February 2022. The Development of the Heavy Bomber, 1918–1944 (PDF), US Air Force Historical Studies, Historical Division, Air University, 1951, pp. 87–88, retrieved 15 February 2022 "The Douglas B-19". Flight. 19 June 1941. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 15 February 2022. "The World's Biggest Bomber". Popular Mechanics. Vol. 74, no. 6. December 1940. pp. 814–815. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
External links
Encyclopedia of American aircraft