B-19

[RyanCrierie]

Because someone requested it:

[RyanCrierie]

Picture of it blown up 2x for clarity

[Shark7]

One down. [:D]

[m10bob]

Hey, that's nice..Too bad the plane was so under-powered. At best, it provided shade.
It did stir the imagination for a lot of aviation "what-if" types, (like myself about 45 years ago)
(Now, where did I put my Air Classics and Flying Review International collection?)

[RyanCrierie]

Here's my conception of an "operational" B-19.



The XB-19 had 2,000 hp R-3350s which had all sorts of cooling problems; while the XB-19A had inline liquid cooled engines doing 2,650 hp each and no cooling problems.

So I'm assuming that the XB-19A got productionized as the B-19B.

Various other changes that probably took place during the XB-19A to B-19B period were a rationalization of the armament, the original concept had power turrets armed with a SINGLE .50 caliber machine gun; and a lot of weird .30 caliber placement, like the Bombardier had two .30 cals, one on each side of the airplane; and a tail turret consisting of a single .50 caliber.

So the new armament is:

Nose Turret with 1 x .50 cal + 37mm
Top Rear Turret with 1 x .50 cal + 37mm
Lower Rear semi tunnel gun of 2 x .50 cals
Tail Turret with 1 x .50 cal + 37mm

Payload of only 5 x 500 lb bombs is historical; the 7,700 mile range cited for the XB-19 was with a payload of 2,500 lbs at a cruise speed of 135 MPH. If you wanted to cruise a bit faster at 186 MPH, your range fell to 5,200 miles.

Endurance is historical; the sheet I found listed an endurance on the order of 50+ hours for the XB-19 at 135 MPH.

I might also reduce the crew complement from the XB-19's 16(!) to something a bit more rational to save weight.

In my scenario, I'll probably make two or three B-19B Very Very Heavy Bombardment Groups available from very late 1943; early 1944, based around the original plan of issue for the B-36; which was for the Bombardment Group (Very Very Heavy) to have three squadrons, each with six aircraft, for a total of 18. With the USAAF's 50% reserve figure figured in, the group would have 27 aircraft.

Production would not be very high, on the order of a couple planes a month. It'd be entirely up to you as the player whether to utilize the B-19B or stick with historical aircraft.

[m10bob]

Very nice "what-if" worked out..Thank you..

[m10bob]

Nice poster.

[xj900uk]

How many B19's were made in RL?  I have heard of it, I don't think it got beyond prototype & possibly a few pre-production models but I could be wrong.  And what happened to them? 

[Bearcat2]

ORIGINAL: xj900uk

How many B19's were made in RL?  I have heard of it, I don't think it got beyond prototype & possibly a few pre-production models but I could be wrong.  And what happened to them? 

1 it was scrapped.

[RevRick]

You know, when I look at those figures, and see a 73 hex normal radius, all I can think of is "Take that, and shove it up your stovepipe, Emily!" Bomber, don't think so. Long range patrol. You betcha. With that kind of range, you could patrol around Kwajalein from Pearl (well, maybe I exaggerate!)

[stuman]

That is a rather large aircraft !