(Douglas) B-18 Bolo @·AIRCRAFTUBE

  • B-18s of 88th<br>Reconnaissance<br>Squadron B-18s of 88th<br>Reconnaissance<br>Squadron
    B-18s of 88th
    Reconnaissance
    Squadron
  • Douglas Digby<br>with the ASV Mk.II<br>radar front receivers<br>(751 Sqn RCAF in<br>Rockcliffe, Ottawa) Douglas Digby<br>with the ASV Mk.II<br>radar front receivers<br>(751 Sqn RCAF in<br>Rockcliffe, Ottawa)
    Douglas Digby
    with the ASV Mk.II
    radar front receivers
    (751 Sqn RCAF in
    Rockcliffe, Ottawa)
  • Douglas B-18 at Wright Field Douglas B-18 at Wright Field
    Douglas B-18 at Wright Field
  • A Douglas B-18 of 21st Reconnaissance Squadron A Douglas B-18 of 21st Reconnaissance Squadron
    A Douglas B-18 of 21st Reconnaissance Squadron
  • A Douglas B-18A of the 31st Bombardment Sqn (19th Bombardment Group) A Douglas B-18A of the 31st Bombardment Sqn (19th Bombardment Group)
    A Douglas B-18A of the 31st Bombardment Sqn (19th Bombardment Group)
  • Douglas B-18A Bolo assigned to 99th Bomb Squadron, in 1942 Douglas B-18A Bolo assigned to 99th Bomb Squadron, in 1942
    Douglas B-18A Bolo assigned to 99th Bomb Squadron, in 1942
  • Douglas B-18A of Veterans Air Cargo at Sacramento, California (1948) Douglas B-18A of Veterans Air Cargo at Sacramento, California (1948)
    Douglas B-18A of Veterans Air Cargo at Sacramento, California (1948)
  • B-18B Bolo with power nose turret B-18B Bolo with power nose turret
    B-18B Bolo with power nose turret
  • Douglas RB-18C Douglas RB-18C
    Douglas RB-18C
  • Douglas Digby (ASV Mk.II radar side array) Douglas Digby (ASV Mk.II radar side array)
    Douglas Digby (ASV Mk.II radar side array)
  • Airfoil test at the Langley Aeronautical Laboratory at Hampton, Virginia (1941) Airfoil test at the Langley Aeronautical Laboratory at Hampton, Virginia (1941)
    Airfoil test at the Langley Aeronautical Laboratory at Hampton, Virginia (1941)
  • Douglas B-18s on the Flying Field Douglas B-18s on the Flying Field
    Douglas B-18s on the Flying Field
  • Douglas B-18 of 19th Bombardment Group Douglas B-18 of 19th Bombardment Group
    Douglas B-18 of 19th Bombardment Group
  • Douglas B-18 "Skyspray" Douglas B-18 "Skyspray"
    Douglas B-18 "Skyspray"
  • B-18 Bolo of 4th Reconnaissance Squadron B-18 Bolo of 4th Reconnaissance Squadron
    B-18 Bolo of 4th Reconnaissance Squadron
  • Douglas B-18 (SN 37-51) Douglas B-18 (SN 37-51)
    Douglas B-18 (SN 37-51)
  • Douglas B-18s of 19th Bombardment Group Douglas B-18s of 19th Bombardment Group
    Douglas B-18s of 19th Bombardment Group
  • Douglas B-18 of General Headquarters Air Force Douglas B-18 of General Headquarters Air Force
    Douglas B-18 of General Headquarters Air Force
  • Runway overrun of a B-18 of 3rd Bombardment Group Runway overrun of a B-18 of 3rd Bombardment Group
    Runway overrun of a B-18 of 3rd Bombardment Group
  • Runway overrun of a B-18 of 3rd Bombardment Group Runway overrun of a B-18 of 3rd Bombardment Group
    Runway overrun of a B-18 of 3rd Bombardment Group
  • 21st Recon Sqn at Miami<br>Municipal Arpt, Florida (1940) 21st Recon Sqn at Miami<br>Municipal Arpt, Florida (1940)
    21st Recon Sqn at Miami
    Municipal Arpt, Florida (1940)
  • B-18 Bolo of 1st Bombardment Sqn - Trinidad, 1942 B-18 Bolo of 1st Bombardment Sqn - Trinidad, 1942
    B-18 Bolo of 1st Bombardment Sqn - Trinidad, 1942
  • Douglas B-18B Bolo (McChord Air Museum) Douglas B-18B Bolo (McChord Air Museum)
    Douglas B-18B Bolo (McChord Air Museum)
  • Douglas B-18B at the Pima Air Museum Douglas B-18B at the Pima Air Museum
    Douglas B-18B at the Pima Air Museum
  • Douglas Digby (RCAF) Douglas Digby (RCAF)
    Douglas Digby (RCAF)
  • Douglas Digby of<br>Australian National<br>Airways above the<br>Brisbane River,<br>near Eagle Farm<br>(Queensland) Douglas Digby of<br>Australian National<br>Airways above the<br>Brisbane River,<br>near Eagle Farm<br>(Queensland)
    Douglas Digby of
    Australian National
    Airways above the
    Brisbane River,
    near Eagle Farm
    (Queensland)
  • Douglas B-18 in Panama Douglas B-18 in Panama
    Douglas B-18 in Panama
  • Douglas B-18 Bolos in Formation over Hawaii Douglas B-18 Bolos in Formation over Hawaii
    Douglas B-18 Bolos in Formation over Hawaii
  • Douglas B-18A of the 3rd Bombardment Group Douglas B-18A of the 3rd Bombardment Group
    Douglas B-18A of the 3rd Bombardment Group

Douglas B-18 Bolo

The Douglas B-18 Bolo medium bomber served with the United States Army Air Corps and the Royal Canadian Air Force (as the Douglas Digby) during the late 1930s and early 1940s. The Bolo was built by the Douglas Aircraft Company, based on its DC-2 and was developed to replace the Martin B-10.

By 1940 it was considered to be underpowered, to have inadequate defensive armament and carried too small a bomb load. Many were destroyed during the attacks on Pearl Harbor and the Philippines in December 1941.

In 1942 the B-18 survivors were relegated to antisubmarine or transport duty. A B-18 was one of the first American aircraft to sink a German U-Boat, the U-654 on 22 August 1942 in the Caribbean.

Design and development

In 1934, the United States Army Air Corps put out a request for a bomber with double the bomb load and range of the Martin B-10, which was just entering service as the Army's standard bomber. In the evaluation at Wright Field the following year, Douglas showed its DB-1. It competed with the Boeing Model 299 (later the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress) and Martin Model 146.

While the Boeing design was clearly superior, the crash of the B-17 prototype (caused by taking off with the controls still locked) removed it from consideration. During the depths of the Great Depression, the lower price of the DB-1 ($58,500 vs. $99,620 for the Model 299) also counted in its favor. The Douglas design was ordered into immediate production in January 1936 as the B-18.

The DB-1 design was essentially that of the DC-2, with several modifications. The wingspan was 4.5 ft (1.4 m) greater. The fuselage was deeper, to better accommodate bombs and the six-member crew; the wings were fixed in the middle of the cross-section rather than to the bottom, but this was due to the deeper fuselage. Added armament included nose, dorsal, and ventral gun turrets.

Operational history

The initial contract called for 133 B-18s (including DB-1), using Wright R-1820 radial engines. The last B-18 of the run, designated DB-2 by the company, had a power-operated nose turret. This design did not become standard. Additional contracts in 1937 (177 aircraft) and 1938 (40 aircraft) were for the B-18A, which had the bombardier's position further forward over the nose-gunner's station. The B-18A also used more powerful engines.

Deliveries of B-18s to Army units began in the first half of 1937, with the first examples being test and evaluation aircraft being turned over to the Materiel Division at Wright Field, Ohio, the Technical Training Command at Chanute Field, Illinois, the Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, and Lowry Field, Colorado. Deliveries to operational groups began in late 1937, the first being the 7th Bombardment Group at Hamilton Field, California.

Production B-18s, with full military equipment fitted, had a maximum speed of 217 mph, cruising speed of 167 mph, and combat range of 850 miles. By 1940, most USAAC bomber squadrons were equipped with B-18s or B-18As.

However, the deficiencies in the B-18/B-18A bomber were becoming readily apparent to almost everyone. In range, in speed, in bomb load, and particularly in defensive armor and armament, the design came up short, and the Air Corps conceded that the aircraft was obsolete and totally unsuited in the long-range bombing role for which it had originally been acquired. To send crews out in such a plane against a well-armed, determined foe would have been nothing short of suicidal.

However, in spite of the known shortcomings of the B-18/B-18A, the Douglas aircraft was the most numerous American bomber type deployed outside the continental United States at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor. It was hoped that the B-18 could play a stopgap role until more suitable aircraft such as the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and Consolidated B-24 Liberator became available in quantity.

Second World War

When war came to the Pacific, most of the B-18/B-18A aircraft based overseas in the Philippines and in Hawaii were destroyed on the ground in the initial Japanese onslaught. The few Bolos that remained played no significant role in subsequent operations.

The Bolos remaining in the continental USA and in the Caribbean were then deployed in a defensive role in anticipation of attacks on the US mainland. These attacks never materialized. B-17s supplanted B-18s in first-line service in 1942. Following this, 122 B-18As were modified for anti-submarine warfare. The bombardier was replaced by a search radar with a large radome. Magnetic anomaly detection (MAD) equipment was sometimes housed in a tail boom. These aircraft, designated B-18B, were used in the Caribbean on anti-submarine patrol.

Two aircraft were transferred to Força Aérea Brasileira in 1942 and used with a provisional conversion training unit set up under the provisions of Lend-Lease. They were later used for anti-submarine patrols. They were struck off charge at the end of the war. In 1940 the Royal Canadian Air Force acquired 20 B-18As (designated the Douglas Digby Mark I), and also used them for patrol duties, being issued to 10 Squadron as quickly as possible to replace the squadron's Westland Wapitis. On 2 October 1942, a B-18A, piloted by Captain Howard Burhanna Jr. of the 99th Bomb Squadron, depth charged and sank the German U-boat U-512 north of Cayenne, French Guiana.

Bolos and Digbys sank an additional two submarines during the course of the war. RCAF Eastern Air Command (EAC) Digbys carried out 11 attacks on U-boats. U-520 was confirmed sunk by Flying Officer F. Raymes' crew of No 10 (BR) Sqn, on 30 October 1942. east of Newfoundland. However, the antisubmarine role was relatively short-lived, and the Bolos were superseded in this role in 1943 by the B-24 Liberator which had a substantially longer range and a much heavier payload.

Surviving USAAF B-18s ended their useful lives in training and transport roles within the continental United States, and saw no further combat action. Two B-18As were modified as unarmed cargo transports under the designation C-58. At the end of the war, those bombers that were left were sold as surplus on the commercial market. Some postwar B-18s of various models were operated as cargo or crop-spraying aircraft by commercial operators.

Variants

  • DB-1 : Prototype, first of B-18 production run, 1 built.
  • B-18 : Initial production version, 131 or 133 built.
  • B-18M : Bomb gear removed from B-18 to serve as trainer.
  • DB-2 : Powered nose turret prototype; last of B-18 production run, 1 built.
  • B-18A : B-18 with more powerful Wright R-1820-53 engines and moved bombardier's station, 217 built.
  • B-18AM : Bomb gear removed from B-18A to serve as trainer.
  • B-18B : Antisubmarine conversion, 122 converted by adding a radar and magnetic anomaly detector.
  • B-18C : Antisubmarine conversion, 2 converted. Fixed forward-firing .50 cal machine gun, starboard side of the fuselage near lower nose glass.
  • XB-22 : Improved version of B-18 using Wright R-2600-3 radial engines (1,600 hp/1,194 kW). Never built, largely due to better light bombers such as the B-23 Dragon.
  • C-58 : Transport conversion.
  • Digby I : Royal Canadian Air Force modification of B-18A.

Operators

  • Brazil : Brazilian Air Force 1st Bomber Group (3 examples).
  • Canada : Royal Canadian Air Force (No. 10 Squadron RCAF, Halifax, Nova Scotia).
  • United States : United States Army Air Corps/United States Army Air Forces.

Aircraft on display

Only five B-18s still exist, preserved or under restoration in museums in the United States:

  • B-18 :
    • 37-029 - Castle Air Museum at the former Castle Air Force Base in Atwater, California. Dropped from USAAF inventory in 1944, it was registered as NC52056 in 1945, later to N52056. The B-18 was used by Avery Aviation and then Hawkins and Powers, as a firebomber, dropping borate for many years.
  • B-18A :
    • 37-469 - National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. One of the first production Bolos, was delivered to Wright Field in 1937 for evaluation testing. Sold as N56847, converted to crop sprayer; by May 1969 stored derelict at Tucson, Arizona. It sat outdoors for many years before being restored to static display condition. This aircraft has an incorrect dorsal turret. The museum has been attempting to locate a correct turret for this aircraft for many years.
    • 39-025 - Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum at the former Lowry Air Force Base in Denver, Colorado. This Bolo spent World War II at several airfields as a bombardier trainer and as a light transport. It was dropped from inventory on 3 November 1944, and was later sold, acquiring the civil registry NC62477. It spent 14 years on the civil registry before going to Cuba in 1958. In November 1958 the aircraft was seized in Florida by US Treasury agents when it was hauling guns to Fidel Castro. In 1960, the aircraft was parked at Cannon AFB, New Mexico, until being presented to the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB. It flew to the museum in April 1961. In 1988, the aircraft was transferred to the Wings Over The Rockies Aviation and Space Museum where it was restored though the 1990s. It is displayed there as AAC Ser. No. 39-522.
  • B-18B :
    • 37-505 - Under restoration at the McChord Air Museum, McChord AFB, Washington. Sold as N67947, then Mexican registration XB-JAJ. Acquired by Tucson Air Museum Foundation of Tucson, Arizona and stored at Watsonville, California. This was the last flyable B-18, making its final flight to Tucson on 10 April 1971. At Pima Air & Space Museum in 1973, it was subsequently acquired by the National Museum of the United States Air Force in 1981 and moved to Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona for storage, then in 1983 put on display at the McChord Air Museum. Access to the McChord Air Museum is currently restricted to military personnel (active reserve and retired), and their dependents unless a base visitor pass is acquired in advance.
    • 38-593 - Pima Air & Space Museum adjacent to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona. This Bolo spent the early part of WWII on anti-submarine patrol. In 1943 began use a light transport. She was retired and struck from the inventory in 1945. Was operated as a firebomber as N66267, 1954–1970. In storage at Phoenix Goodyear Airport, Litchfield Park, Arizona by September 1969, then delivered to Pima on 5 September 1976. The aircraft sat outside in the desert for many years before being restored and moved indoors for display. The aircraft is still equipped with an antisubmarine search radar dome.

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This text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
Source : Article Douglas B-18 Bolo of Wikipedia ( authors )

Douglas B-18 Bolo

  • Role : Medium bomber.
  • Manufacturer : Douglas Aircraft Company.
  • First flight : April 1935.
  • Introduction : 1936.
  • Retired : 1946 Brazilian Air Force.
  • Primary users :
    • United States Army Air Corps.
    • United States Army Air Forces.
    • Royal Canadian Air Force.
    • Brazilian Air Force.
  • Produced : 1936–ca. 1939.
  • Number built : 350.
  • Developed from : Douglas DC-2.
  • Developed into : Douglas B-23 Dragon.

    • Specifications (B-18A)

  • Crew : 6.
  • Length : 57 ft 10 in (17.63 m).
  • Height : 15 ft 2 in (4.62 m).
  • Wingspan : 89 ft 6 in (27.28 m).
  • Wing area : 959 ft² (89.1 m²).
  • Empty weight : 16,320 lb (7,403 kg).
  • Loaded weight : 24,000 lb (10,866 kg).
  • Max. takeoff weight : 27,673 lb (12,552 kg).
  • Maximum speed : 216 mph (188 kts, 348 km/h) at 10,000 ft (3,050 m).
  • Cruise speed : 167 mph (145 kts, 269 km/h).
  • Range : 900 mi (787 nmi, 1,450 km).
  • Ferry range : 2,100 mi (1,826 nmi, 3,380 km).
  • Service ceiling : 23,900 ft (7,285 m).
  • Climb to 10,000 ft (3,050 m) : 9.9 min.
  • Powerplant : Two Wright R-1820-53 radial engines.
  • Power : 1,000 hp (746 kW) each.
  • Armament :
    • Guns : Three .30 in (7.62 mm) machine guns.
    • Bombs : 4,400 lb (2,000 kg).

— — — = = — — —

This text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
Source : Article Douglas B-18 Bolo of Wikipedia ( authors )
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