On The Deck

[T Bolt]

Pretty impressive plane, wonder why it was never pushed for further development as a long range bomber/patrol aircraft.

Because of the length of time between the start of the design and the first flight (1938 to 1941) It was obsolete before construction was finished. Douglas wanted to halt the whole project but the Air Corps insisted they complete it for research purposes so it was not intended to be a production aircraft from long before the first flight. I read somewhere that lessons learned in the construction of the B-19 were used in the design of the B-29 so it wasn't a complete waste. It was later re-engined with the big Allison V-3420 engine used in the XB-39 Superfortress and the P-75 Eagle. Later it was converted to a transport and scraped in 1949. The only thing left of it is the massive main landing gear tires, one at The Air Force Museum and the other one at some other museum.

 

[vikingBerserker]

I scanned a pic yesterday of it with the Allison engines, it was quite handsome.

 

[Torch]

Thanks for the info, yeah cool looking bird.

 

[N4521U]

I had to stop it too see it was a whale.....
Heads up pilot eh?

 

[Capt. Vick]

See it and weep...

 

[vikingBerserker]

Man, that just makes me sick.

 

[Capt. Vick]

Man ya just gotta ask why...

 

[GrauGeist]

And the irony of it all was, that the B-19 was not equaled in size or capabilities until the B-36 came along after the war.

This is one of those machines that has one foot in the realm of "what if"...

 

[Milosh]

More info on the XB-19, Douglas XBLR-2/XB-19

 

[N4521U]

That's the military for ya. No sense of history until lonnnnng after it happens!

 

[Gnomey]

Good stuff guys!

Always a shame to see aircraft in the wreckers

 

[rogerwilko]

wing incidence seems exaggerated?

 

[Capt. Vick]

Yeah, it does...interesting. Never noticed that. Must be the airfoil they used...

 

[gumbyk]

 

[Glider]

What did that pilot have against the perimeter fence

 

[fubar57]

Did that end well?

Geo

 

[Njaco]

1987 - Dino Martin Jr.

 

[fubar57]

 

[Njaco]

ummm....that was a poor joke on my behalf. Sorry.

 

[fubar57]

I smiled, but still, it doesn't look like it had a happy ending.

Geo