RUC SUS Ce ea aay Scale Aircraft “** Dis AWINGS 7Scale Aircraft DRAWINGSABOUT THE AUTHOR Peter M. Bowers began to build model air- planes soon after Lindbergh flew across the Atlantic in 1927. He began to write for pub- ation in the mid-1930s when the editors of mode! aviation publications, including Mode! Airplane News, asked him to write articles and draw up plans for his out- ‘standing models. From 1940 to 1942, he studied aero- nautical engineering at the prestigious Boeing Schoo! of Aeronautics, and he be- ‘gan to amass one of the largest, most com- prehensive, private collections of airplane photos In the world. Scale Aircraft Draw- Inge—Volume lI: World War ll draws exten- sively on this collection. After five years In the U.S. Army Air Forces as 2 Maintenance and Technical In- telligence Officer, he joined the Boeing Airplane Company as an engineer, and he retired in 1983 after 36% years. Mean- while, his model bullding had expanded to include the design and construction of pi- lot-carrying, “home-built” airplanes. His ‘single-seat Fly Baby won the national EAA design contest in 1962, and he has been selling plans to amateur builders ever since. Over the years, his many books and magazine articles have led to his worldwide recognition as an aviation historian, model builder and airplane designer. se Scale Aircraft Drawings—WW I—Volume II Group Publisher Louis V. DeFrancesco Jr Publication Director: Ed Schenk Book Design: Alan J. Palermo Publication Coordinator: Sally Wiliams Copy Director: Lynne Sewell Copy Editor: Karen Jeffcoat ‘Art Assistants: Alyson Nickowstz, Walter Sidas Cover Photos: Budd Davisson Copyright© 1991 by Air Age Publishing, Ie: ISBN:0-911295-143. lights Feserved. including the right of production in whole orn pat nay frm. “his book, or pats thereof, may nat be reproduced witout the publisher's permission. Published by Air Age Pubishing, nc 251 Danbury Road ‘Witon, Cr 0687CONTENTS INTRODUCTION reensnnrnrn 4 WORLD WAR II COLOR AND MARKINGS. q 5 DESIGNATIONS u AIRCRAFT. Avro Lancaster Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress Boeing B-29 Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina Consolidated B-24 Liberator Curtiss P-40 D-E-F Kittyhawk..... Curtiss SB2C Helldiver .. Douglas Boston/Havoc/A-20 Douglas A-26 Invader... Douglas C-54 Skymaster on... Fairchild PT-19, PT-23, PT-26 Fiat CR 42 Falcon Focke-Wulf 190A Gloster Gladiator Grumman F4F Wildeat Grumman TBF Avenger Grumman F6F Hellcat. Hawker Hurricane. Kawasaki Ki 61 Tony oo 14 18 22 sie 78 Lockheed Hudson sn Martin PBM Mariner... Martin B-26 Marauder ... Messerschmitt Me 109... Messerschmitt Me 262 Swallow ... 96 Mitsubishi A6M Zero. 102 Mitsubishi G4M Betty 104 Nakajima Ki-84 Frank 106 North American P-51B Mustang 108 Northrop P-61 Black Widow..... 110 Republic P-47 Thunderbolt Stearman Kaydet . 116 Supermarine Spitfire 118 Vega Ventura 126 Vought SB2U Chesapeake/Vindicator.......132 Vought OS2U Kingfisher. 136 Westland Lysander 138 Westland Whirlwind ....smmsnsnnnnn 144INTRODUCTION by PETER BOWERS his book, Volume It of the Ale Age Scale Aircraft Drawings series, covers 37 representative WW Il airplanes. Some are prewar service mod- ls that served at the beginning of hostilities but were soon re- placed, while others are more modern types that, with continual upgrading, were able to ‘serve until the end. It's interesting that very few of the models that originated after the onset of the war actually saw combat. ‘Some of these drawings were made dur- ing the war when data was scarce or even restricted, but they're as accurate as pos- sible under the circumstances. In fact, art- {st William Wylam drew some of them so well that the U.S. Army took him to task for being too accurate in depicting designs that were still classified. As a result, he deliber- ately included minor discrepancies in some ‘subsequent drawings, notably the vertic tall of the 8-29. ‘Some of these discrepancies are mer tloned in the text that accompanies each airplane; each includes a brief history and details of the plane's development and op- ‘rational use, With modelers in mind, 1 carefully selected the photos from my collection, ‘and they combine the best views of the airplanes structural detail and ‘markings. I should be noted that the drawings and photos in this book are, at best, rather general, and seri- ous modelers who build mw Above: Me 262 nose se. tails. At iet, an Me 2624-22 with two 250kg (550-pound) ‘bombs under the selage, At right, a0 Me 2628-19 fighter. Note the ports for te 30mm eannon in ‘he upper nase wm oiow: ‘One of six PBM-385 sent (0 England as “Mariner | painted inthe British Coastal Command's white and gray color ‘schome. The Mar: here. aidn't meet British reguire- ‘ments and were r2- (uned to the U.S. Navy Note the pow- fred. two-gun fall, turret {for scale competition will need additional supporting data to verity their efforts. ‘The most common errors found on models, illustrations and even restored military air- planes are national insignia of incorrect proportions, and incorrect mark- ings for the period of aircraft operation be- ing depicted. Accurate data on this compli- ‘cated subject isn’t generally available to modelers, s0 I've devoted a section to these markings (as obtained from official markings charts). Vive also included a section on designa- tions, which the basies of the various national designating systems. It also ‘explains why an American-built airplane like the Douglas DB-7 (factory designation) was ‘operated as a “DB-7” only by France; while Groat Britain called it either a “Boston” or a ““Havoc;” the U.S. Army called it an “A-20” 703" and the U.S. Navy used it Finally, | explain why different designa- tions were used on otherwise identical U. Navy airplanes (such as the SB2C-4 and the ‘SBW-4), as well as the meaning of “B-176- 180," “B-176-VE" and “B-17G-DL.” fal fWORLD WAR Il COLOR AND MARKINGS ‘AIRPLANE COLORING Most military airplanes were not camouflaged ater the end of WWI, but, as WW Il ap- proached, "war paint” gradu- ally came back into use: in England and Germany in 1997: in France in 1939; in the US. ‘Army in 1940; and inthe U.S. Navy in 1941. In general, Eu- ropean airplanes used a com bination of several earth tones on the top and sides, and a light shade, such as sky blue, The enormously complex subject of WW II markings and insignia fills many books. The best that can be done to address the subject in this limited volume is to present an outline of the basic colors used, the proper proportions and placement of national insignia, and the time during which these markings were used. 1927 (Figure 1). Starting in February 1941, the same col- oring was extended to other ‘Army tactical models, and the insignia were rearranged (as descried later, From mid-1941 through (Figure 1) The early Curtiss P-40 (shown) and Douglas A-208 were the only ‘amoutlaged U.S. Army airplanes delivered with the distinctive Army rudder ‘Srpes and star laignla on both wing tips. Ruder stripes were eliminated ‘tom eamouilaged arpanes In February 1942, and tho star configuration ‘hanged tone onthe aper left wing, one onthe lower ight wing and one on ‘ach Side ofthe rear useage below. These changed exten- sively during the war accord- ing to theater of operation, season, mission, ee U.S. ARMY—in 1940, the US. ‘Army adopted olive-drab col- coring forthe top and sides and light gray forthe undersurfaces of the frst Curtiss P-40s and Douglas ‘A-20As. These planes carried the then-standard insignia arrangement of stars on both ‘wings (top and bottom), and the distinctive rudder stripes used only by the Army since 1943, many U.S. Army ait- planes appeared in British ‘camoutlage because they had been appropriated by the ‘Army through British con- tracts with U.S. manufactur- ers. Other basic colors for ‘Army airplanes were matte black for night fighters (later changed to glossy black) and a light shade (almost pink) for planes flying in North African desert operations. Early in 1944, it was decided that cam- outlage wasn't really neces sary for most combat types; i was costly to apply and main- tain, and it decreased airplane performance. Camoutlage was eliminated from most subse- ‘quent production, though some metal-finished B-24s and B-29s were painted glossy black underneath when they ‘were used for night bombing Until early 1942, primary trainers (ike the Stearman’ Boeing Kaydet) and basic trainers were delivered in pre- ‘war yellow and blue with rud- der stripes. They were subse- quently delivered in overall silver dope or natural metal Some yellow and blue planes ‘were repainted silver, but oth- ers survived the war in their original prewar colors, U.S. NAVY—Prevar U.S. Navy airplanes were siver, with chrome yellow on the uppermost wing surface. In February 1941, overall light- gray camouflage was adopted for fleet-type airplanes, and the stars were placed as on the camouflaged Army planes, Late in 1941, tactical models operating over water adopted a dull blue-gray forthe top and sides and retained the Gray undersides. Planes with folding wings, on which the ‘underside ofthe wing was Visible from above when folded, had the topside color- ing applied to the undersurface of the folded wing. A few Navy feet ar- planes retained the overall aray into early 1942. Early in 1943, the camou- flage was changed to dark sea-blue on top surfaces, graduating through lighter shades to glossy white tundersurtaces. Early in 1944, glossy sea- blue was adopted as camou- flage for carrier-based fight- ers. Soon afterward, this col- coring was extended to all other fleet models. There were other special camoutiage schemes for specific missions, such as the dull-gray top surfaces on ‘otherwise all-white planes, ‘hich were used on sea- search and anti-submarine missions, and overall matte black on planes used for night, missions, et. NATIONAL MARKINGS: ‘The following drawings and photos are presented to give ‘mode! builders the correct proportions and locations of the national markings used by the warring powers. Although there have been many varia- tions and exceptions, these ccan be regarded as “stan dard.”WORLD WAR II COLOR AND MARKINGS UNITED STATES—From 1919 ‘through 1942, the U.S. Army and Navy (which included the Marine Corps) used two sepa rate national markings for their aircraft: the common star-in-circle markings on the (ar ctr sried om'te US" sa on (ure 4) Arete of Soe 28, 188 ved whe rectal oe U Mota tes the ica ee is i lsd surenaed ee rig wi’ red Bort ero ‘med in i om troup nea hw September 18, Hos rece ta he Sr be ‘hanged to ble). in the late 1920s and early '30s, and replaced the brighter with the red disc of the Japa- riod when an existing red bor- “True Blue” shade). As shown nese insignia, the red disc was | der was painted over with = in Figure 2A, the red center’ removed trom the American | blue. | am not alone in believ- (Figur 2)An American Starin-Cirle WAS tangent to projections of star insignia on May 15, 1942 | ing thatthe blue border should {nsloia 35 ased from May 1817 the star arms across the cen- (Figure 3). At the end of June | have been retained only ‘trough January 1918, and Septem : rough Janwany 108, and Seniem- | ter ofthe star. The most Com- 1943, the insignia was made | around the white rectangles, ‘mon error made when this more visible when white and not around the blue circle ‘marking is applied to models rectangles were added to each | Many modelers, atsts and ‘occurs when the center is side off, and the whole mark- | even some airpiane manufac- ‘wings (and later, on the fuse- made too large, and some- ing was surrounded by aed turers believe that the marking lages), and the red, white and times actually touches the border (in the proportions of | should be made that way, and blue stripes on the rudders. blue circle. Figure 4). n the heat of com- they paint ther aircraft Each marking willbe de- in February 1947, the star | at, however, a glimpse of red accordingly. scribed separately. ‘was removed from the upper | could be mistaken for the The other major application Stars—Until May 15, 1942, right and lowerleft wings of | Japanese marking, so the red error is made when the the star marking had three camouflaged Army and Navy | border was changed to blue in rectangles are the wrong pro- colors: a red center disc inside | planes, and one was added to | September 1943. The blue portion and misaligned; the awhite, five-pointed star | each side of the rear fuselage | border is still in use today. tops of the rectangles should against a blue circle (Figure 2). | (or tothe noses of flying | This use of a blue border _ line up with the sides of the (The very dark shade called | oats). The purpose of his | around a blue circle has al- upper star points (Figure 4), “insignia Blue” came into use | arrangement was psychologi- | ways been a major source of || _ After Pearl Harbor, the Navy cal Tests showed that a gun- confusion. Blue-around-biue put te stars back on both ner aiming at an airplane with made sense only for the pe- wings of al its airplanes to two bright insignia on it would tend to sight between the ga Pe sas bright spots, or right on the f eS E | cock wen te marings ’ | wre on the wing tins. By hav- ms | Igone inigigona wingtip | ; andthe oer onthe fuselage, | peg. | the gunner—it was hoped— /} ris nop evi | Nom cena ism on he (Figure 24) This 0 i space between the win Fie show ren aera nimi © gure ray gad Bee 803 Daunte: de Ronn saa a Savarnsscressneconererbestar | To avoid possible confusion | — Sarimevaraion sues wsd—even on he same alae Roa SSWW Il SCALE AIRCRAFT DRAWINGS saben ee tram September 1218 trough 128 fy lt aos Eo te de aly anne in increase visit fr postive identification. It also increased the stars’ size (previously lim- ited to 60 inches for wing Sars and not allowed to ove lap the ailerons) to cover the full chord of the wing and the full depth of the fuselage. This | Sue erease was ai fr camouflaged aircraft to be used in eombatareas (rou 5); others retained standard- size markings. Early in 1943, both services standardized the arrangement oe tar Was placed on the upper left wing fp, one was pt on he over night and oe es postoned ‘on each side of the fuselage. ‘Stripes—from late 1919 | (Figure 6) Vertical raider stipes 25 | | | (gre 7) The Ary ape is ‘new udder stripe arrangement in ‘ember 1926. was elininated trom ‘camoufaged airplanes in February 1h and rom al cers ony 1, (Figure 8) On January 5, 1942, the U.S. Navy adopted this ed-and-wnite variation ofthe Army rudder stipes {oruse on camouflaged airplanes, but ‘sed it only unt May 15,1982. through 1926, the Army and Navy used the same rudder markings: three vertical stripes of equal width with red at the trailing edge, then white and blue forward (Figure 6). This duplicated the French and British markings. Alter 1926, the Army de- leted the vertical red and white stripes and replaced them with | 13.aterating red and white | stripes, as used on the Amer- can flag (Figure 7). This mark- ing was eliminated from cam- outlaged Army planes in Feb- ‘wary 1941, and from all other Army planes on May 15, 1942, The most common error in present-day model and real airplane restorations occurs ‘when the vertical biue stripe is made the same width as the horizontal stripes. Whatever the shape of the rudder, the ‘width ofthe vertical blue stripe shiould be one-third the maxi- mum chord of the rudder. After 1926, the Navy used rudder stripes less often, and they were eliminated by 1941 In January 1942, the Navy adopted a variation ofthe ‘Army rudder stripes for cam- utlaged airplanes by deleting the vertical blue stripe and (Figure 9) A British Type A roundel, as used from WW! through Jane 1942. ‘ote thatthe diameter othe roundel dvded into equal ith by the tree ‘ircles. running the horizontal stripes full-chord of the rudder (Figure 8). This marking was eliminated on May 15, 1942, along with the red center of the star insignia GREAT BRITAIN—Begin- ning early in WW I, British Empire forces used three- color citce insignia called “roundels,” and three vertical rudder stripes with the blue forward. To avoid duplication of the similar French rudder stripes, the order was re- versed in 1931. By 1937, how- ever, when camouflage was adopted, rudder stripes were uncommon, Roundels—The British roundels had standard propor- tions and were used in three basic arrangements during WW IL Figure 9 shows the standard proportions ofthe Type A roundel as it was used | from 1916 through June 1942 Note that the diameter of the insignia is divided into fits. With the adoption of camou- flage in 1937, the roundel was modified to Type A.1 (Figure | 10) by the addition of a yellow ring around the blue, which | divided the basic circle into sevenths. At fist, type A.1 ‘was used against all dark sur- faces, but after 1940, it was used only on the fuselage sides of camouflaged planes. ‘Type A was then used only on the undersides of wings, though it was used briefly on camouflaged sides in late +1939 and early 1940 in place of ype At The Type B roundel or nated in WW | as a reduced- visibility marking for night operations, and it remained in use on both day and night ‘operations through WW I Figure 11 shows thatthe red center was tworfitths (or 40, percent) the diameter of the overall marking, Type B wasWORLD WAR II COLOR AND MARKINGS used mainly on upper wing surfaces through WW Il, but it appeared on the fuselages and tunderwings of some special- purpose aircraft, such as blue- painted reconnaissance planes. ‘Type C and C.1 roundels were adopted in July 1942 as direct replacements for Types ‘Aand A, They were applied in only three sizes—small, medium and large—and were laid out to given dimensions rather than to fractions of the ‘overall diameter. Figure 12 (Figure 10) The adition ‘fa yellow outer ring to the Type & British roun- ‘marking into egual sev. ‘nhs. Iwas used on ‘amoutaged surfaces ‘tom 1997 though June 1342, gives the dimensions in inches for all three sizes in ascending order. Note thatthe yellow ring is used only on Type C.4 Some Type C roundels began to appear on upper wing sur- faces just before the war ended Fin Flashes—During the Battle of France (May 1940), the Royal Air Force briefly used rudder stripes again They were quickly abandoned, however, for what was called “Fin Flash’, a smaller set of equal-width red, white and blue vertical stripes, with red {el dvided the diameter ‘of the-new Type A.D forward, painted on the verti- cal fin, From late 1940 through June 1942, the flash was standardized at 24 inches es Ty neon 26 —| a (Figure 14) The revised Briish Fin Flash of July 1942 was 24 inches high andased three widths (shown), alli encode wi coer wide and 27 inches high (Fig- ure 13). After July 1942, the width of the white stripe was reduced to 2 inches. The stan- dard flash then had a height of 24 inches, and it used red and blue stripes in three widths (Figure 14) FRANCE—France origi- (Figure 11) This British Type B roundel was used for night operations, be- sini i WW ad wos fied an the upper wing ‘urlaces.of most otter reat from 1940 unt! Ihe ond of WW (igure 12) Bish Type C and C.1 roundels were adopted in uly 1942, dau nt thre eso, aan bing gt percentages ofthe overall ameter. They were used as direct replace- ‘mons for Types A and A1rundels. nated the use of national air- plane insignia before WW I, and it called its tricolor circles, “cocardes.” These were used only on wings until they were added to fuselages at the on- set of WW Il, Mainly, the pro- portions were as in Figure 15, with the radius divided into thirds, Rudder stripes, with the blue forward, were used from WW I through WW Il France ‘was one of the few nations to retain rudder stripes after most of the others had moved tail markings to the fin. The French marking situation was ‘complicated after June 1940,WW Il SCALE AIRCRAFT DRAWINGS (Figure 13) The British Fin Fash was standardized late in 1940, and femained this size through June 1942. On airplanes with smal ins {such asthe Supermarine Spite), it was sometimes necessary to cul ‘an upper comer af he lash (Figure 15) The proportions, of the French Cocarde, used since WW, were determined by dividing the radlus of he ‘uter circle into thirds, These propor- tons were also adopted by aly anerit —— ‘aed the Aisin 1983, because “Vichy France” was force by the Treaty of subservient to Hitler, but “Free | Versailles, which ended WW | French” forces (who had es- A secret Luftwaffe, however, caped) joined the Ales, and was created inthe early 1980s, both used the same basic with airplanes that flew in civil rational markings. markings. Proper military ‘markings appeared when the GERMANY—Germany was new Luftwaffe was revealed to prohibited from having an air the world in 1935 Crosses—White-bordered black crosses in various pro Portions were used from 1935 ‘through 1939. These crosses were positioned midway be- tween the trailing edge of the wing and the leading edge of the horizontal tail, and very close to the wing tips. After the Polish campaign that started the war, the propor- tions were standardized. In the interest of reduced Visibility, narrow-bordered crosses (Figure 16) were now used only on upper wing sur- faces, and they were posi- tioned 2 meters (6 feet, 6 inches) in from the wing tips Wide-bordered crosses (Figure 17) were used on the fuselage and on the underside of the wing, usually midway between the wing tip and the fuselage on single-engine types, and midway between the wing tip and the outer en- gine nacelle on multi-engine types. Late in the war, the black part of the cross was some- times omitted, leaving only a white border against the airplane's basic color. In other cases, the white outine was replaced by black (Figure 18). Swastika—From 1935, through 1938, the German tall ‘marking for al airplanes was a wide red band that covered the full chord of the fin and rud: der, A white circle containing a black swastika standing on its ‘corner was centered on the red band (Figure 19). Before the war started, the red band and white circle were deleted from German Military <—__1___» a ‘a ol ta la (Figure 16) The standerd proportions ofthe narow-hordered German cross, {used on upper wing surfaces trom 1940 unt he end othe war. ya aol ale aol na fae (Figure 17) Standard proportions of ‘he wie-bordered German cass, 38 sed on fuselage sides and wing ut- ‘der-surtaces trom 1940 un the ond ofthe war. airplanes only. Some military prototypes were subsequently tested with civil markings, but camouflaged planes retained the band and circle. ‘The swastika was lad out to very rigid specificationsWORLD WAR II COLOR AND MARKINGS ! (Figure 18) A German Focka-Woll Fu. 1904-3 carrying the back outlines of (Figure 19) Panchromati film and Mle lighten an the redband faseloge and wing crosses late nthe war. Note the absence ofa while Border used on te vrlical fins of German miliary alrplones trom 1895 Into 1938 rund the swastika onthe fn. The blak swastita was moved lo the fn afer the redband and white circ were delete. Cni-egisteed German airplenes retained the red band and (Figure 20), and on dark back- | Keep swastkas off all toys and wile thoughout the war. Grounds, it had a narrow white representations of Nazi-era border. Fora short time after equipment, even in the United | Stripes" for quick, positive |__| Widths varied from 18 inches the red band had been re- States. identification. These consisted (on the P-51) to 20 inches. moved, the swastika remained of three white and two black | (8-26 and P-47), and 24 centered between the fin and JAPAN—Since WW | equal-width stripes that com- | inches (A-20). Four-engine the rudder. Itwas soon moved Japan has used the "Rising pletely encircled the rear fuse- | bombers didn't use the stripes tothe fin on most planes, but Sun,” or “Hinomaru," (the red | lage and were applied full- unless they had been diverted itwas placed on the larger isc of the Japanese fag), as | chord to both upper and lower | to glider-towing. rudders of some aircraft with its national aircraft marking. | wing surfaces (Figure 23). Aer the invasion of small fins The Ales, particularly the Normandy, the stripes were itshould be noted that very Americans, derisively called it removed from the upper halt few WW Il German aircraft the “Meatball.” When the of the fuselage and from the top of the wing. The stripes Were retained on the lower surfaces for subsequent large- scale, airborne invasions, with some used on planes involved in the crossing of the Rhine in March 1945. Invasion stripes are popular today for restored, camiou- flaged WW Il airplanes, and ‘models appear with swastikas Hinomaru was used against today. Since the war's end, it dark surfaces, it was usually has been against the law to _outined with a white border display the swastika in Ger- that was approximately 2 many, and photos of wartime inches wide (Figure 21), The planes that appear in post-war marking was standard for both issues of German magazines | the Japanese Army and its sometimes have the swastikas | Navy. (The Hinomaru Red was blanked out. Various ant-Nazi | much lighter and brighter than groups continue working to | the dark American Insignia, Red.) ee estat ano menes | they add variety to a collection ‘Atte war's end, afew | ue, when i's ased oder sur. | of similarly camouflaged US. Japanese military airplanes | ees. ‘or British scale modes. were allowed to fly during and beyond the surrender negotia~ tions. These planes were | painted white and were ‘matked with dark green crosses (Figure 2). In afew ‘cases, airplanes stil in camou- flage carried their new crosses ‘on white squares that had Figure 22)Aclsarmed apanese Misubsh G4N-1 Bet bomber painted wht, been painted over the ‘with green crosses replacing the Hinomary marking. It was used to transport bee it ober aa nema rt (Figure 20) The standard proportions INVASION STRIPES Siti toriredsuaamere Forte invasion of France in ened he ete no German June 1944, participating US the war. The white border was and British airplanes carried tinned some Ugh ented hastily applied “Invasion Simones Figure 23) An olve- | trab Douglas A206 With cradely applied ‘Black-and-white Ine vasion Stipes es ‘ver the Aled lve ‘Sion Fleet on D-day, shun 6, 1988he nations involved in WW I identified their military ar planes iferently. France, Ger- ‘many and Italy simply used the ‘manufacturer's model designa- tions (e.9., Messerschmitt 109, Fiat CR 42, etc.) France added the mission and seating to the designation painted on the rud- der, a in "Douglas DB-7-83. ‘The “B3" indicated that twas a three-place bomber. A pursuit, like the Curtiss 75, was “75- C1," C1” indicated a one-place Chasse, or pursuit, type). The ‘mare involved British, U.S. and Japanese systems are described separately here. GREAT was formalized in 1924 and is still used today by the U.S. Air | Force. The type letter identified the basic mission ofthe airplane (e4,,"B" for bomber). The ‘model number identified the ‘number ofthe particular type contracted for, but not neces ured by, the Army, 3-17." The series letter identified the stage of model development, such as "B-17A." Starting in 1942, sufx eters were added to the Army desig- nation to identity the actual bullder of the airplane, Inearly 1942, minor changes were often made that didn't WW II SCALE AIRCRAFT DRAWINGS in *PBY-5" for Consolidated's first Patrol Bomber. Specialized configurations were identitied by suffix letters, as in "PBY-5A” for an amphibious version and '$B20-4E" for a Scout bomber modified for electronics mis- sions, U.S. Popular Names—in October 1941, the U.S. Govern- ment adopted “popular” names for its miltary aircraft, such as *Matiner’ forthe Martin PBM and "Wildcat” for the Grumman |_ FAF Some names were already in use and were easy to adapt— Boeing had already been calling its B-17 the Flying Fortress— ing as °K1 61 Hein.” The Japa- nese Navy system vas based on the U.S. Navy system that iden- tified the airplane by type and number of models procured froma particular manufacturer, ‘such as "Mitsubishi ABM-2 ‘Type 0” (1940) fighter Raiden. The Allies stopped trying to use the various Japanese sys- tems and gave all Japanese airplanes code names, such as, “Tony” for the Ki 61 and “Zeke” for the AGM-2 ‘MULTIPLE MANUFACTUR- ERS—in al of the warring na- tions, major combat planes ‘were built in factories other than ==, DESIGNATIONS by progressive ‘Mark Num- bers,” such as the Westland Lysander Mi, I Il ec. Minor variants that didn't qualfy fora new Mark number were given letters, such as "Lysander Mk IA.” in some cases, the added letter identified a special feature, as withthe Hawker Hurricane MK IC with cannon armament. Similar airplanes used for vastly citferent missions were some- times given diferent names, ‘such asthe Douglas DB-7, ‘hich was called a “Bosto ‘when it was used as a bomber, but a "Havoc" when it was used 45 a night fighter. The practice of using different names or Mark Numbers for different missions was aban- ned mid-war, in favor of add- ing prefix letters to identity the mission, such as “Spitfire F Mk 1X fora fighter, and “.R. Mk for phatoreconnaissance. The letters "NF." identified night fighters, and “7.7.” ident- fied target tugs. UNITED STATES—The US. Army and Navy used two sepa rate systems to identity the type, model, series and manu- facturer of each airplane. The systems are too extensive to list herein ther entirety, so only the basics wil be presente. U.S. Army—The Army used a Type-Model-Seres system that justify @ new series eter. In- stead, the airplanes were dent- fied with a block number, 9 4, 5, -10, and so on. The inter- vening numbers were reserved for changes made at modifica- tion centers (e.g, changes to a Republic P-470-25 made ita 470-28) U.S. Nawy—he Navy tied in the airplane manufacturer wth the airplane type and model designation, as with the “Grumman FaF-4." The fist letter identified the type (9. “F for fighter). The following number identi the number of different fighter designs ordered from that manufacturer, and the second letter identified the par- ticular manufacturer. In this case the “F identified “Grumman” because the logical letter “G" was in use by another manufacturer when Grumman became a Navy customer. The number “1° wasn't used fora manufacturers first Navy model. Grumman's fist Navy fighter was the F-1, followed ty the FFA, FOF, FF-2, eo The dash number that followed the last ete identified not the model number, but the sequen tial configuration ofthat model ‘Multi-purpose Navy planes appeared in 1934 and were identitied by two type letters, as and other names were picked up from previous British use of ‘American designs, such as Catalina” for the PBY. The purpose of catchall names was to conceal the actual evelopment stage af a combat plane when it was discussed in the public press. A Flying For- tress was simply a B-17, not specticaly a B17E, F, or & These names were almost to- tally ignored by those associ- ated with the airplanes (to ‘whom accurate designations were important) and they didn’t “take” well wit the public, de> spite the efforts ofthe press. JAPAN—The Japanese Army and Navy used a type identitica- tion system based on the named type and a one- or two- digit number identifying the Japanese Dynastic Year in Which the airplane entered pro- duction, such as "Bomber Type 1" for the Mitsubishi G4M-+1 The figure "1" in this caseis the last digit ofthe year 2601 (equivalent to our calendar year 1944). The Japanese also gave ‘names to many, but not all, of their military aircraft The Japanese Army used a sequential "Ktai” num- bering system that started in +1982, with the number for the Kawasaki Type 3 fighter appear- those of the orginal designers. In England and Germany, Spit- fires and Me 109s were built by several manufacturers, with no indication in their designations as to who actually built them, Designations were different in the US, U.S. Army—A 8-176 was stil @8-17G, no matter who built, but the factories in volved were included in the des ignation early in 1942. Boeing's Seattle plant built the B-176- BO, Vega built the B-176-VE and Douglas’ Long Beach plant built the B-176-DL. Different factories of the same manutac- turer also got distinguishing letter designations, such as “BW" for Boeing's Wichita, KS, plant, and "BN" for its plant in Renton, WA. U.S. Navy—When an estab- lished design, such as the Curtiss $82C-4, was built by another firm, that firm used the ‘same type designation but a ditferent manufacturers letter. The SB2C-4, built in Canada by Fairchild, became the SBF-4 because Canadian Fairchild had never built an SB type for the Navy. The same model built by Canadian Car & Foundry be- came the SBW-4 forthe same reason,V RO LANCASTER sions: Marks IV and V were special long-range versions; Mark VI had improved 4,750hp Merlins; and Mark Vil hhad 1,620hp Merlins but a ‘gross weight of 68,000 pounds. Marks Vill and 1X weren't used. The Lancasters were used primarily as night bombers in the Allied program that bombed Germany “around the clock”—the Americans attack- ‘Aa Aro Lancaster! caryng standard British night-bomber camouflage. Note how far up the ide ofthe useage tke ing by day, the British by ‘mate back underside pant extends. Type B rundels are onfop of he wing: Type C1 roundel ae on the fuselage a Thoin ag s 26136 ches night. Specially modified LLancasters were used on HE Avro Lancaster was the | with the 1,145hp Rolls-Royce | formidable machine, with a some spectacular missions, most famous and widely | Merlin engine (as used in the | gross weight of 65,000 such as the breaching of the used four-engine British Hawker Hurricane and ounds—greater than that of Mohne and Eder dams in May bomber of WW Il. Oddly, Supermarine Spitfire fighter). | the American Boeing B-17. 1943 and the sinking of the however, it didn't originate as| These changes increased the | It could usually carry 7,000 battleship Tipit, hidden in a a four-engine design. In 1937, | wingspan from 90 feet, 1 inch | pounds of bombs and was Norwegian ford, witha single the British Air Ministry issued | to 102 feet for the same defended by four powered 412,000-pound bomb in No- a requirement for a heavy 50,000-pound gross weight. | machine-gun turrets with 10 to vember 1944. Special bomber to be powered with |The converted airframe, origi-- | 12.03-caliber guns. Lancasters modified to carry two new and still experimental nally named “Manchester Il,” | Lancasters first went into 22,000-pound Grand Slam 4,760hp Rolls-Royce Vulture fist flew on January 9, 1941. action in March 1942 and were | bombs had gross weights of engines, The Air Ministry was pieased | the backbone of the British | 72,000 pounds. AN. Roe and Co., Ltd.,of with its performance and im- heavy bomber flet for the LLancasters remained in ser- Newton Heath, Manchester, | mediately ordered the revised rest of the war. vice with the Royal Air Force ‘won the order with its Model design into production desig- AS precaution against a _|_until February 1954 and with 679—named "Manchester" by | nated as the “Avro Model 683 | shortage of Merlin engines, a _ the Royal Canadian Air Force the Royal Air Force. The proto- | Lancaster.” Lancaster Il using the 1,650np | until April 1964. Only two fiy- type was frst flown in July Demand was more than Bristol Hercules VI air-cooled able Lancasters remain today. 1939. The program was seri- | Avro could handle, so produo- radial engine was developed. cusly delayed by a German air | tion ofan eventual 7,374 ‘Alarge production order was. SPECIFICATIONS | raid, and twas then ended by | Lancastes was distributed | placed wth one of the subcon- | AN PERFORMANCE the shortcomings ofthe stil- | among two Avro plants and | tractors, but the anticipated | troublesome Vulture engine one Canadian and four other | Merlin shortage didn't materi- Wingspan .... 1oet. (orioritis forthe Merin en- British manufacturers. The | alze, so the Lancaster Il order High Speed 287mph dine prevented Rolls-Royce ‘first production Lancaster |, was progressively reduced Cn ftom perfecting the Vulture). | powered by 1,260hp Merlin | until only 300 were delivered, | LOND wnmnmn- 69s Only 200 Manchesters were | XX engines, few on October | Lancasters that had Merlin | Cruising Speed.....200mp | built, some of which saw 31, 1941. The short time it | engines builtin the US. by | | action over Germany (Febru- | tock to move the Lancaster | Packard were designated Mee fet i a fe) ary 1941 to June 1942), ‘from prototype to production | “Lancaster II" (2,990, | ital Glmb......250 ft/min. Tosave the Manchester | can be attributed tots being | produced). The 430 builtin Empty Weight...36,457 Its. | program, Avro developed a essentially a modified | Canada with Packard Mertins | Going 19,000 ft fout-engine modification of Manchester, ota completely | were identified as : the basic airframe. Ithad a new design ‘Lancaster X" | Gross Weight... 68,000 ts. wider center section and Both offensively and defen- Intermediate marks identi- || ange..n.nn. 290 ile | longer wing panels for use sively, the Lancaster | was a fied various improved ver-303 cal. machine guns ina poweed-turets trim tab balance tab 0 fabric covered elevators mass bance allmeta stabilzer | dein stip fame ger canpaing Sot V rs Fls-Royce "Merlin XX°- 1260 hp. engines fla panel faring pane! ar rmlding strap Green haze and sandy-bronn camoutage an op surface ony, Dull ack onside and lower surfaces exhaust mut | carter ake thet eer 1 E landing garde ‘ea ai take a wexeeee | goss C “teeta a ne at eg ais ce ene bane tab fabri covered ailerons formation fight “DeHaviand constant speed ful-feathering propelers front pomered-turet oe | a lee ‘poet avian i> bse tan Diser reco finder avg sing dome “anding ight per pamered-uret ‘raleg redo antenna telescoping ground post ‘a metal raster and SS vertical stabilizers Be super ‘landing gear door ~~ ra rear entrance _.—andig gear actuating arm lower turret oneretracting a Sientitcaton light Wiliam A.Wylam POM era SONIMVUG L4VHOMIV 31V9S 11 MMBOEING B-17 FLYING FORTRESS i876: 80 was delivered witout he adiliona nose guns that were iy B-176s at modifetion centers, Note that ihe exhausts for intoord enies re on ie oter ies of acl: xkaats on he obeard ‘engines are onthe botoms of nacelles. Also note the camouflage patern on ‘engine cowings.. HE Boeing 8-17 Flying Fortress was one of the few U.S. warplanes to have an accepted name as well as a standard military designation before being named by the British or included on the U.S. government's lst of so-called “popular” planes late in 1941, The B-17, a daring design atthe time, was developed in response to a US. Army fly~ off competition for multi-en- gine bombers announced in 4934. “Multi-engine” at that time was generally under- stood to mean “twin engine.” Boeing realized that all the contestants, using the avail- able engines and state-of-the art airframes, would pertorm similarly, s0 it decided to take ‘gamble: use four engines to improve the performance of its entry while carrying the ssame bomb load as the com petition. Previously, additional ‘engines had been used to get larger airplanes with heavier Joads into the air, rather than to improve the performance of smaller airplanes. Bui as the company- owned Model 299, the proto- type of the 12,726 B-17s that were eventualiy built rolled out of the factory in July 1938. The name “Flying Fortress" (later copyrighted by Boeing) was bestowed oni by a Seattle newspaper reporter wio was impressed by the five defensive machine-gun turrets of the new bomber. The aircraft's name was a natural, ‘owing to its armament and the fact that it was intended to defend the U.S. coastline from invading surface fleets accom panied by carier-based fight- es. ‘Model 299 ran away with the contest. Performance was sensational—a top speed of 236mph at a gross weight of 38,059 pounds; a cruising speed of 140mph; and a range (of 3,101 miles. On October 30, an army pilot took off with the ‘control locks inadvertently engaged. The crash eliminated the Boeing from the competi- tion, but the Army was sutfi- ciently impressed with it to order 13 nearly identical planes for service testing as the YB-17. At the Army's re- Quest, the engines were changed from 750hp Pratt & | Whitney R-1690 Hornets to ‘850hp Wright R-1820 Cy- clones. Shortly before the first flight on December 2, 1936, the YB-17 designation was changed to Y1B-17 The strength of an designed according to out- of-date Army specifications. ‘Armor was added, and fuel tanks were changed to the latest self-sealing type. The B- 170 had 1,200hp R-1820-51 | engines and a bomb load of 4,000 pounds at a gross weight of 47,242 pounds. The combat inadequacies of the B-17 were revealed on 20 early Y1B-17 was ar proven in a violent | speciricarions | storm, so the Army. AND PERFORMANCE | directed that a four- | teenth airame, or Powerplant... Wright R-1820-97 dered for a static test, 1,200hp at 25,000 ft. be completed as the single ¥18-17A tight | Wingspan eee article. Boeing used | Length 74 ft, 9in this to develop turbo- | Wing Area 1.420 sq. ft supercharger installa- : | tions used on all SD Rea, echieaee | subsequent B-17s for | Gross Weight. 65,500 Ibs. | essere wa Top Speed ...287mph at 25,000. | | “Orders for 39 pro- | Sruising Speed 182mph duction B-17Bs trickled | Service Ceiling 95,600 1. in over nearly three years, owing mostly to | %4”08 ee) | ost protiems— | 6,000:b, bombs Boeing's cost of buld- | rmament sean |_ ing the planes in small Sear | | numbers and the ‘Army's reluctance to pay the price. Many officials thought that the B-17 was too much airplane for pilots to handle, and they urged that the maney instead be spent on smaller bombers. Thirty-eight B-17Cs and 42 8-17Ds were delivered through April 1941, thanks to the increasing urgency of the | war situation. They resembled | the Y1B-17A, except for minor improvements and gradual upgrading of the armament installations, which had been B-170s, which the U.S. Army transferred tothe British as “Fortress |” Their fist combat use was @ raid on Wilrelmshaven, Germany, on July 8, 1941. The systems and armament ofthe B-17 had not been designed or modified for high-altitude operations under European combat conditions, so the Fortressas were quickly withdrawn In the Paci, the few sur- viving B-17Cs and Ds did ‘much better. Their perfor-‘48-176-15-80 with representative Bth At Force markings. Triangle Aidentiles the 9Yst Bomb Group, LG identifies the $22nd Bomb Squadron and R identifies {he individual airplane nthe group. Note the name "Chow Hound," and cartoon on the nose and the row o painted bombs indicating nine bombing missions. ‘mance and versatility so im: pressed the Japanese that they were described as “four- engine fighters used forall purposes.” The lessons of the Euro- pean war came together in the first of 512 B-17Es, which left the factory in September 1941, The aircraft had a new rear fuselage structure that housed a tail “stinger” with two .50-caliber guns and top ‘and bottom powered turrets, each with two 50s, and a single .50 in the waist stations and radio room (a total of nine 50s), plus the single 30 in the nose. The tal stinger was big surprise to the Japanese, making them wary to ap- proach all B-17s from the rear. Crews of older B-17s took advantage of this by putting ‘dummy guns in their tail cones, ‘The most distinctive exter- nal feature of the B-17E was the larger vertical tall with a long dorsal fin. American B-17 operations over Europe began with a raid of 12 B-17Es over Rouen, France, on August 17, 4942, but it wasn't an all- ‘American operation; the es- corting fighters were British Spitfires. ‘The B-17F was outwardly similar to the E except for a slightly longer molded Plexiglas nose cone. Its bomb load increased to 8,000 Pounds by using external straight-ahead fire.) Boeing bomb racks under the wings. | developed a two-gun “chin” With wartime demand ex- | turret that was installed on the ceeding Boeing's capability, | very ast B-17F-VEs and -DLs Douglas and Vega (subsidiar- and was to have been on the ies of Lockheed) were called _B-17F-135-B0. Boeing can- ‘on to build additional B-17FS. | celled the F-135 and combined The 2,300 built by Boeing the new turret with other were B-17F-B0; the 500 by changes to produce the Vega were -VE; and the 605 by | B-17G-1 Douglas were -DL. The B-17Fs The B-17G looked identical were the first to use the block to the late B-17Fs with chin I 18 tt Be ini. remotely sighted belly wrrets. The 113th B-17E and all later ‘models used the manned Sperry ‘Ball turret (shown) ye iim > > number system, but there was turrets. Boeing built 4,035; no direct correlation between, Vega, 2,250; and Douglas, say, a B-17F-5 built by Boeing, 2,395. The B-17G was the last Vega, or Douglas. production B-17. Designations Combat with B-17Es and as high as B-17P were post- carly B-17Fs revealed the ‘war modifications, plane’s vulnerability to fighter Britain obtained adaitional attack from straight ahead, so Fortresses under Lend-Lease various additional nose-gun The 19 Fortress lls were B- arrangements were tried on 8- | 17Fs. The 45 Fortress lIAs ‘7Fs in combat, The best so- | were B-17Es that carried later lution was to replace the 30- designations because existing caliber nose gun with one or airplanes were obtained while two 50s in the nose cone and | the Fortress Ils were being to add a single 50 in a bulged | built. The 85 Fortress Ils were blister on each side of he |B-17Gs; the first 30 built by nose. (This permitted almost | Boeing and the remainder by ! = Alop-powored gun turet and forward navigator’ astrodome were added othe ‘8-176 and elained though subsequent models. Vega. The American bombing ca- reer of the B-17 ended on V-E Day, but the B-17s served the ‘Army and, later, the U.S. Air Force (created September 18, 1947) in many utility roles until 1960. ts final role was as a live target for anti-aircraft missiles that were built, ironi- cally, by Boeing. Odd B-17F variants were Til gunner’ station rom th B-17E ‘miaway through 8-176 production (ate Gs had 2 revised design that was developed at United Air Lines’ ‘modification centr, site of earlier ‘modiiations. the B-40, the XB-40 modified by Vega and 20 service-test YB-40s converted by Douglas. They had two top turets, twin, powered waist guns and extra atmor, and they carried double the usual ammunition. They were intended as escorts for other B-17s before the long range fighters were intro- duced. Their major shortcom- ing was that owing to the weight oftheir extra guns and armor, they couldn't keep up with the fast, ight empty bombers on the run home. At the end of the war, the U.S. Navy obtained 31 late B- 174s for use as unarmed, ra- ar-equipped PB-1Ws (Patrol, Boeing, Anti-Submarine War- fare). The U.S. Coast Guard also acquired 1 ignated “PB-1 Coast Guard) and used them for air-sea rescue work (sometimes with lifeboats un- der their belies) and for rou: tine patrol and mapping work The last PB-16 mission was in October 1957.Ea! eran: foe iva Sesone azo 6SSONIMVUG L4vUSUIY a1v9S Tl MM STE B-17 FLYING FORTRESSBOEING B-29 nally convinced and ordered 11500 B28 before the proto type flew. _ With Boeing's Seattle fac- tory choked with B-17s, the Army bul ne ator) for B-29 production alongside Boeing's existing pain Wichita, KS, where the Kaydet traners were bing ult. In February 1942, the Army. ‘A Boeing B-29A-5-BN in flight with bath sets of bamb-bay de ‘Note the fo , ste-control gun turrets Ce oa 29450 ph wh xs of ana ore pe N pvaa. rama i San ee itd San canen ponstan we So citer asco pnae akiome, | het anuicuer Bt Glenn L. Martin Go. at Omaha, HEN itentered service in| 25,000 eet anda range of |_‘keep up. In June 1940, Boeing NE. The U.S. Navy had built a June 1944, the Boeing 4,100 mils. and Lockheed received Army new factory at Renton, WA, 8-29 was the largest, heaviest. "Development ofthe B-29 contracts to build wooden near Seattle, for Boeing to and most complex production began in May 1939, after the mock-ups for evaluation. build PBB-1'tlying boats, butt airplane of its time—a master- U.S. had assessed its future | Lockheed dropped out, but cancelled the boats and turned piece that pushed the state of airplane needs. Itneeded a | Boeing was avarded a con- the pant aver to the Army for the art tots limits. thad an bomber with a speed of tract for two XB-29 prototypes 8-29 production, ‘i-man crew, five powered —_-400mph, a range of 5,333 in August, and Consolidated Built in Seattle, the first of gun turrets (each with two miles and the ability to deliver | was to build a '50-caliber guns),a 20mm a f-fon bomb load atthe half-_ competing XB-32 cannon in the tail turret, a ‘way point. The U.S. aircraft Both received or- SPECIFICATIONS pressurized fuselage and two industry received the specif- ders for asingle. =| AND PERFORMANCE bomb bays with a capacity of cation for sucha bomber in additional XB in. Poyeyplant. Wright 3350-23 up to 20,000 pounds of February 1940, and Boeing December. San oer bombs. Four 2,200hp Wright | responded with Model 341 ‘The B-29 had an Maeat 3350 engines, each fited The Army, however, kept unprecedented | Wingspan 141 f, 3in.| with two turbo-superchargers, | changing its requirements for | procurement and | fength eu 291 | plus slick aerodynamics, gave equipment, armor and arma- | development his- wing arog i aaeea| ithe ability to bomb from ment, and self-sealing fuel tory. army officials | Wi"@ ce ae cover 30,000 feet andattaina cells, s0 Boeing had to de- doubted Boeing's Empty Weight 70,140 Is. top speed of 365mph at velop a new Model 354 to engineering and | gr9g5 Wight eunconvn-124,000 Ibs. wind-tunnel test se figures and in- Top Speed 3581mph at 25,000 ft FROIN Sista on alarger | Grusing Speed .280mph wing to reduce the thenfantastic wing See Gling Sh loading of 69 Range 3,250 miles (8-294, pounds per square | 4,100 miles) foot (much higher | - than that of contemporary |. the three XB-29s flew on Sep- fighters). Boeing argued that | tember 21, 1942. The test pro- this would reduce speed and gram was seriously delayed by range, and that the B-29's chronic troubles with the hhuge Fowler flaps would keep | R-3350 engines, which had landing speeds within eason- | never been used in a produc: The Esse Alen, named forthe famous war correspondent, as paidtorby able limits. The Army was f- tion airplane, Fourteen service- ‘Bosing-Wichita employes. Hore displays fou camels on is ose, ind ‘ating fur round supply tps over he “Hump.” Ths plane was 80 ‘aah damaged ver Tayo In May 195 a Rad tobe srapped.test YB-17s were builtin Wichita, KS, but they, too (as, well as early production mod- els), were plagued with engine problems and difficulties with all the new equipment from remotely sighted and con trolled gun turrets to cabin pressurization), electrical trouble and radar installations, Airplane deliveries were hampered by delays of mate- rial and equipment from the Greatest netivork of sub-con- tractors and supplies ever set Up for an airplane production program. To prevent delays on the production lines, the planes were rushed through incomplete and sent to modifi cation centers for final installa- tions and necessary changes, particulary tothe stil-trouble- some R-3350 engines. Getting the first B-29 into ‘combat was also an unprec- ‘edented operation. Japan was beyond the range of even the 8-29 from U.S held bases in the Pacific, so several airfields were built by Chinese coolie labor in the vicinity of Chengtu, China, 1600 miles from the southern tip of Ja- pan. The B-29s that used them were based in India but used the Chinese fields as points of departure for Japan. With no roads open for supply, all sup- plies (uel, bombs, ammuni- tion, spare engines, food, etc.) hadto be airlifted from India, 41,500 miles away, over the infamous “Hump” of the Himalaya Mountains. Each B-29 had to make several round trips to support one raid ‘on Japan. Some B-29s were stripped ofall military equip- ment and fitted with bomb-bay tanks, and they could ferry up to 4.000 gallons of fuel. These Were facetiously called C-298. The fist Asiatic B-29 raid was @ 2,000-mile round trip from India to Bangkok, Thailand, on June 5, 1944. This was reported by Radio Tokyo as having been flown by B-24s, The frst raid against Japan was over the steel ‘works at Yawata. Sixty-eight B-29s took off from Chengtu ‘on June 15, but, hindered by bad weather, only 47 reached and bombed ther target. De- spite the B-29's capacious bomb bays, each plane carried only 1 ton of bombs in a nec- essary trade-off between ‘bomb load and fuel for range. Seven B-29s were lost on that first raid; none to Japanese action. ‘As supplies increased, at- tacks on Japan from China increased, but they ended late in 1944 when the Japanese- held Marianas Islands in the Wester Pacific were cap- tured, and B-29 bases were built there. The distance from thereto Japan was only slightly less, but supplies ‘could be delivered by ship and the B-29s could fly westward {rom the U.S., instead of east- ward via Africa and India, Bomb loads didnt increase significantly at frst, because of the fuel required to reach the bombing attitude of 30,000 feet that was necessary to elude fighters and flak, and to battle the terfic head winds The fist strike against Tokyo since the Doolittle raid of April 1942, with B-25s end. Incendiary bombs virtu- ally wiped out whole cities nti, on August 6 and 9, two ‘atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to force a speedy end tothe war. During the war, some 118 B-29s were converted to long range F-13 photo-teconnais- | ssance planes and used to se- lect targets in Japan and ‘evaluate bomb damage after | raids. Their photos also helped those who planned the US. invasion of the Philippines. B-29 Production—Between them, the four factories turned | out 31960 B-29s, with the last | one delivered from Renton in May 1946. Over 5,000 B-295 sii on order were cancelled after V-J Day. B-29—Most B-29s were designated simply "8-29." The + ae a opublie PSAP. final models differed in detail from the early models, most notably in having four-gun Upper forward turrets instead launched from the aircraft of two-gun turrets, Boeing carrier Hornet, was made of built 1,634 B-29-BWs; Bell Saipan on November 24, built 668 -BAs; and Martin. |) 41944, with over 100 8-298. built 536 -MOs. | After capture, lwo B-20A—The B-29A hada | sima,which is halfway be- new wing center section struc ture that added 1 foot to its wingspan. All 1.119 B-29A- BNs were builtin Renton, B-298—A total of 311 Bell B-29s were modified in the factory and delivered as B-29Bs, stripped of abut | tail guns. This cleaned-up ver- sion was as fast as Japanese fighters and could be attacked only from the rear. Also, the tal guns were aimed tween Saipan and Japan, served as a safe haven for damaged B-29s and for those ow on fue, and it also pro- vided a base for P-51 fighters that could now accompany the 8-296 to Japan. With Japa- nese fighter opposition virtu- ally eliminated, the B-29s could goin at a lower altitude and with bigger bomb loads. This was the beginning of the SCALE AIRCRAFT DRAWINGS and fired by a new AN/APG- 158 radar fire-control system. ‘The weight saved went to ad- ditional bomb load, B-29C—This aircraft was to have been a B-29 with im- proved R-3350 engines, but it was never built B-29D—The 8-290 was a ‘major improvement of the B-29, with 3,500hp Pratt & Whitney R-4360 engines, a ‘75ST aluminum structure in- stead of 24ST, thermal anti- icing instead of rubber boots, and a taller tail. Two hundred were cancelled after V-J Day, but the Army got 60 reinstated by saying that they were 75- percent-new airplanes desig- nated “B50.” A total of 371 B-50s through TB-50H were built through March 1953 B-29s Postwar—The B-29 Major postwar use of he B-29 after Korea was as an aerial refueling tanker fitted with Boeing's tying boom” reveling system. Here, a KB-29P reels remained the standby of the Strategic Air Command in the early, post-WW Il years and served in the Korean War of 4950-53, with many ofits logical targets declared off limits by potical consider- ations, Its range was in- teased for global operations in 1948 by converting 92 B-29s to KB-29M hose tankers and another 74, supplemented by B-50As, to hose receiver B-29MRs. Later, 116 were Converted to KB-29P boom tankers: ‘ter Korea, a few B-29s continued to serve the Air Force in utility and training roles until 1960. One fyable B-29 survives today, and sev- eral are on view in museums.vena: Mason (esos | pean reer omenBOEING B-29ONSOLIDATED PBY-5A CATALINA (on U.S. Navy contracts as “PB2B,” The slight citference in designation was owing to Boeing's having already buitt a PBB-1 design ofits own, Boeing built 250 PB2B-15, ssome of which were as- ssembled from parts provided by Consolidated. Sixty-seven more PB2B-2s duplicated the high-tailed PBN-1 tying boat Boeing also built 17 Catalina boats for the RCAF. and 55 Canso amphibians. Consoli- dated built one PBY-5, 782 PBY-5As and 237 PBY-6As at New Orleans, with 75 of those 287 going to the U.S. Army as ‘A Consolidated PBY-SA ashore. Note the ram air scoops on the tops ofthe engines (not shown on drawing) andthe “QA-10BS.” ‘hook-on acces ladder athe side Distr. Sea-blue camouage on op ofthe wing is caried around tothe bottom o! | Tie PRYs say service in all the raced wingtip oat HE Consolidated PBY fly- ing boat, named “Catalina” by the British, was one of the oddities ofthe war. A 1933 design, it was widely used by the US. Navy, but was nearly ‘obsolete by 1940, With no immediate replacement in sight, it was kept in produc tion by the U.S. Naval Aircraft Factory (NAF) at two Con- solidated factories. and in two Canadian plants. Eventu- ally it distinguished itse by ‘becoming the most prevalent flying boat ofall time: 3,276 \were built in the U.S. and Canada, plus an estimated 150 under license in Russia. In competition against the Douglas XP3D-1 patrol plane, Consolidated's XP3Y-1 was the winner and went into pro duction as the dual-purpose BY-1 patrol bomber— the first monoplane or- | SPECIFICATIONS: dered by the Navy for _ AND PERFORMANCE service with the fleet The prototype's jae, wwe 104M powerplant was the | Length 63 ft, 10in. — 825hp Pratt & Whitney | Wing rea 1,400.sq, ft. R-1890-58 twin-row engine, but this grew to eMac 20,190 bs. the 1 200hp R-1830-92 Gross Weight 35,420 Ibs. in the final PBY-5A and High Speed .... 175mph at 7,000 ft Pt GA eee a most notable ou cru Seed ~1,13mPN changes were the large, ‘bombs or depth charges. Armament oo... 3X30-caliber | transparent blisters over (MG; 2x.50-callber MG; 4x1,000- | the side gun ports (fist, shown on the PBY-4) and the retractable tr- theaters of the war. An RAF. cycle landing gear introduced Catalina spotted the elusive ‘on the PBY-5A (‘A” foram- German battleship Bismark, phibian), which greatly and ths lead to its destruction increased its usefulness and U.S. Navy PBY-5s and 5As production life, Ataller tal were used for the additional appeared on the NAF. PBN-1 duty of air-sea rescue, paticu- and the later PBY-6A larly in the Pacific, where ‘AConsol- dated plant ; ‘4 was builtin New Orleans tosupplement | PBY-5 produc- tion at San e Diego. The | APEYEA fat ih landing gear reacted. minor changes to the 156 ver- | some carried lifeboats under sions of the PBY-6, which was | their wings. Other PBYs, originally built as the "PBN-1” | painted dull, matte black, were and later renamed “Nomad.” | used for night intruder opera- The Viokers plant in tions against the Japanese. Carterville, Canada, built 369 | Rescue PBY's were nicknamed PBY-5s as “PBV-1As,” with | “Dumbo,” while the intruders 230 going to the U.S, Army as_| were referred to as “OA-I0A” Observation Am- | “Black Cats." phibians and 139 to the The U.S. Navy operated RCAF, which named them PBYs until the late 1940s, but “Cansos, the Coast Guard and the Naval Boeing's Canadian plant in Reserves retained them until Vancouver built 317 PBY-5s 1954 and 57, respectively,SONIMVUG LdvuouIV a1VOS 11 MmCONSOLIDATED -24 LIBERATOR 8,000 pounds, usually reduced | 2,040 B-24s from “D” through by the trade-off between bomb | “L" under Lend-Lease. The load and fuel for range. British Liberator Mark num- Consolidated was allowed bers did not correspond to bulld export versions for directly to equivalent U.S. France, designated the ‘Army models. The 222 British “LB-30,"and atthe same time, | B-24Ds were either Liberator the earliest B-24s were being | Mark ll bombers or Mark V built for the Army. This order | patrol and reconnaissance was taken over by Britain, The planes, depending on how P20 ora Mt uw tee aga) RAAF also 0oksome othe they wee equipped Ami ot windows. Camoutag was deleted rom most U.S. Army combat planes l | gare B-24s, including six of | mostly B-24ds and afew Ls eterno detets thesevensericetest ¥8-24s, became 1618 Liberator Vis ESIDES being one of the | on December 29, 1939. Such | but released 26 of them, and Vills. The 24 Mark Vils major U.S. heavy bombers | rapid development of anew | following the LB-30s to the were C-87s, not B-24s. of the war, the Consolidated model resulted from fitting @_| U.S. Army. The Army used ‘Afew B-24s were converted 8-24, named the “Liberator,” | new bomber fuselage to the them initially as unarmed, and redesignated for other has a distinction held by no | wing and tall ofthe existing fong-range transports, butt purposes—C-108 fuel trans- ‘ther American military air- | Model 31 flying boat and add- | used some as bombers in the porters used in Africa and plane: more B-24s were built | ing two engines. Southwest Pacific after Pearl China, F-7 long-range (18,482) than any other mass- | The Liberator was continu- | Harbor, Later, the Army requi- photo-planes and AT-22 produced fighters, including | ally improved throughout the —_sitioned 75 undelivered navigation trainers, the Curtiss P-40 (13,738) and | war. The early B-24A had LB-30s, but it eventually re- The demand for B-24s far the Republic P-47 (15,683). 1,200hp Pratt & Whitney turned 23 to the RAF. ‘exceeded the capacity of The design of the B-24, R-1830-33 engines without The B-24 was superior to Consolidated’s San Diego Consolidated Model 32, origi- | turbo-superchargers, but no the B-17 only in range, thanks plant to produce them (it was nated in January 1999, as a | armor or sel-sealing fuel toits high-aspect-ratio wing _also building PBY and PB2Y counter-proposal to a U.S. tanks, and it was defended by and new Davis airfoil section, flying boats), so a Consoli- ‘Army request that Consol- six 30-caliber, hand-swung | so B-24s took over the long- dated plant was builtin Ft dated build Boeing B-17s un- | machine guns. A powered top | range bombing in the Pacific Worth, TX. Three other manu- der license. The proposal was | turret with two .50-caliber until the B-29 came along. In facturers were also called on accepted, and the XB-24 flew guns was added tothe B-24C, | Europe and North Africa, to supplement B-24 produc- 7 | a8 was a similar tail turret. B-24s competed intensely tion. The output of B-24s at all SPECIFICATIONS Turbo-superchargers were against the B-17. The U.S. five factories is listed below: AND PERFORMANCE added to the R-1830-41 en- | Navy acquired 97 B-24s from Consolidated, San Diego, CA ines of the B-24C to maintain | D through J. Despite their sig- (-CO)-—1 XB-24 (converted to Powerplant... PAW R-1830-65 | takeoff power to 25,000 feet. | nificant diferences, all were | X8-248)- 159 8-30: 7 YB-24. 9 1,200hp at 26,000 ft. | The first significant production | designated "PB4Y-1 Patrol B-24A: 9 B-24C. Mass-production Wingspan. 1108, || version andte fist be | Bombers” eee | in, || combat-worthy, was the B- To meet its need for long- ” Consolidated, Fi. Worth TX Lent nnn 67 fr 2i0- || 240, few ofthe final B-24Ds_| range transports, the Army -F}—308D; 24 F, 738 Wing Area. 1,048 sq. ft. had retractable two-gun belly had consolidated complete 1,598 J. = Empty Weight......36,500 bs. | | turrets, but that feature did not | 287 B-24 airframes as un- Douglas, Tulsa, OK(-07)- oy Heal become standard unt the armed C-87s, wih elongated, "0: 7676 S821; 2054. Gross Weight ....64,500/bS. | 8-246, which also introduced streamlined noses and an ait- 6" a alton 24 High Speed ....-..900mph at | | a powered nose turret midway iner-lype cabin, complete with Yaqucton} a0 E1780 30,000 ft. ‘through production. Final de- passenger windows. 1,587 J: 1,250 K; 1,677 M; 1 Rar 2,100 miles at fensive armament was 10, Britain ordered 159 LB-30s —_ XB-24N; 7YB-24N. me - ‘50-caliber machine guns. ‘on cash contracts as “Libera- ‘North American, Dallas, TX _215mph at 25,000 ft. | Maximum bomb load was tor!" and “Il,” then received = (-NT)—430G (-NT only): 836 J.CONSOLIDATED B-24 LIBERATOR SONIMVUG LaVUOUIV aIVOS 11 MMURTISS P-40 -E-F KITTYHAWK * * * The Brish Curtiss Mode! {374-2 Ktyhawk is sila to ‘he U.S. Army P-400. 1 bas {he standard coloring ofthe 1941-early 1942 perf, with sant-and-spnach camo Tage on the tp and side surfaces, lightblue under. heath, Type A rundels under ‘he wing, Type B ontop ofthe wing and Type A.1 on the side Or he aselage. HE P-40 was already obsolete when i first ap- peared in 1939, because it was a variant of the Curtiss Model 75, which was a prototype ofthe radial-engined U.S. Army P-36A that flew early in 1935. Export sales of the 81 and 87 models with liquid-cooled Alison V-1710 engines were good because of the desperate need for fighters of any kind. The P-40 was kept in production long past ts prime, U.S. Army Models—The Curtiss Model 87, used by the ‘Army as the P-40D, € and F (plus later P-40s not isted here), difered notably rom the earlier P-40 through P-40C (Curtiss Mode! 81) because the 1,040hp planetary-geared Allison V-1710-33 engine was replaced with the 1,150hp - 39 model that used spur ‘gears, which raised the thrust line and notably changed the nose contours. In the 22 P-40Ds,the two .50-caliber machine guns were omitted from the nose, and two 50s ‘were put in each wing panel to replace the two .30s there Cockpit rear-view windows ‘were also enlarged. Empty ‘eight of the P-40D was 5,790 pounds; gross weight was 8,670 pounds; top speed was 354mph at 15,000 feet. ‘Wing area was the same as earlier models—236 square feet P-40E—These models were improved P-40Ds, with -39 engines, six wing guns and a gross weight of 8,840 pounds. | The Army bought 2,320. Early. | Versions saw action in the Pacific and China, but most were used as fighter-trainers inthe US. | P-40E-1—With passage of the famous Lend-Lease Act of March 1941, the U.S. provided the Allies with military aircraft. | Because these were procured and paid for through the appropriate military channels, they were required to have standard U.S. designations and serial numbers and to conform more closely to US. specifications. The Kittyhawk IA that was on order by Britain was almost a duplicate of the ‘Army's P-40E, differing mainly ints use of British equipment and civil Alison V-1710-F3R engines, One year before adoption of the block number system, it was given the U.S. Army designation of P-40E-1 to accommodate is dtfer- ences in the U.S. system. Some P-40E-15 were used by | the U.S. Army and flew with U.S. markings over their British camouflage. P-40F—A serious attempt was made to improve the performance of the obsolete -40 when the Allison engine was replaced with the Ameri-11 SCALE AIRCRAFT DRAWINGS canized 1,300hp British Rolls Royce Merlin engine (built by Packard as the V-1650-1) Unfortunately, the P-40 was too old, structurally and aero- dynamically, to benefit as, much from this ‘change as did the North American P-51, ‘The only outward ference from the -40E was the elimi- nation of the carbure- tor air coop on top of the nose. Its gross Weight increased to 9,870 pounds, and the only improvernent was the speed at alt tude — 364mph at 20,000 feet. Despite this, the Army bought 1,311 P-40Fs (calling it Warhawk instead of kittyhawi) as well as later models through P-40N. The first 699 P-40FS were deli ered before adoption of the block number system. The -40F-5s and on had the rear fuselage lengthened 20 inches to improve directional stability The Army took over 150 P-40FS built for Britain as kittyhawk I! for use in North Arica in 1942 and "43, British Designations—The Royal Air Force called its early Model 81 P-40s “Tomahawk,” but the improved Model 87 was called "Kittyhawk,” and retained its identification with CCurtiss’s "Hawk" for its export fighters. The export Model 87 was i L,I originally ordered by France, but Britain took over the order. Major British use of ‘Tomahawks and Kittyhawks was in North Africa starting in mid-1940. Kittyhawk Britain bought 560 equivalents of the four- gun P-400 on cash contracts, with deliveries beginning in August 1941 Kittyhawk lA—The 1,500 Kittyhawk IAs were equivalent to the P-40E and were deliv- ered under Lend-Lease as P-40E-1 because of their dif- ferences in detail Kittyhawk The PAF. did not adopt the American name of Warhawk when it acquired 330 P-40Fs and P-40Ls, but simply called P-QE-1 was the U.S. Army desig- ‘alin given to Kityhawk as that Were deivred to Britain. This one as Army makings oer Brith them Kittyhawk Il and Eoneutoge Note tbe Salon Kityhaw IA. Eighty-oneal- lay el tank one Bey ready delivered to the RAF. ‘were transferred to the U.S. This P-40F was ropossessed trom ‘Army for use in North Africa, 2 BrilishKityhaws order and ‘sed bythe U.S. Army In North and others, with U.S. insignia over British camouflage, were delivered to the Army straight from the Curtiss factory. | ‘Several P-40Es and ex- RCAF. Kittyhawks can be seen flying today in the Warbird movement. | ‘Arica 1945 Note the Briish- ‘ype unit markings, camouflage 2nd fn ash, * * ‘Note: To mack the Wola drawings, ths desertion wil over nl he “Short usslge” Curie Made! 87 he U.S. Ary P $108 Brough POF, andthe British “Kite seis,WW II SCALE AIRCRAFT DRAWINGS k i 4 =| i | CURTISS P-40 D-E-F KITTYHAWKCURTISS SB2C HELLDIVER ‘An $820-16 with its retratab {se of topside camoutage onthe over (Flding) panels of he wing. el HE $B2C Helidiver, which | machine guns in the wings, ‘was the third Curtiss dive two power-driven 50s in the bomber to carry the name, rear cockpit, a 1,000-pound became an effective atack bomb in an internal bomb bay plane late in the war, aftera and an additional 1,000, long development and pounds of bombs under the ‘debugging period. The XSB20- wings, Wing area was 422 1 flew in December 1940, but square feet and gross weight the production version didn’t was 16,607 pounds. Top appear until June 1942. The design ‘was seriously handicapped by contradic- tory Navy re- quirements, with dimen sions limited by aireratt carrier space requirements and perfor- ‘mance handi- ‘capped by the The final Curtiss Heldiver model—the $B2C°S. Noe the four-blade propeller, the 100-gallon drop tanks on wing bomb rack, the mounts for inch rockets and ihe overall Imidnight-boe finish adopted Tor cater-based airplanes ‘early in 1944 required military payload and | speed was 273mph at 13,000 equipment. Helldiver opera- | feet, but diving speed was tions began inthe Pacific in limited by perforated and split November 1943. trailing-edge flaps that served Helidivers were built in great | as dive brakes. variety. The 200 SB2C-1S | _ An oddity of the SB2Cs with (°SB" for Scout Bomber) were 1942 to 43-style camouflage armed with four S0-caliber was that the undersides of the cuter wing panels carried dark topside camouflage because the undersurfaces were visible ‘rom above when the wings were folded The US. Army ordered 900 ‘$B2C-1s under the designa- tion of A-25A. These were built in Curtiss’ existing St Lous plant instead of the Columbus, OH, plant that had been built for $B2C produc- tion, Ten A-25As were sent to the Royal Australian Air Force, but they were rejected The 410 SB2C-1As were A-25As that were transferred to the U.S. Marines for use as trainers. The 778 SB2C-1Cs ("for Cannon) were succes- sors to the $826-1, with two 20mm cannon substituting for the tour 60-caliber machine guns inthe wings. This was the standard armament for subsequent Helldivers. The single XSB2C-2 was a twin- float seaplane that wasn't successful The 1,112 SB26-3s were improved structurally and aerodynamically and used four-blade propellers on sing-odge wing sats open. Note the short-lived red border around the insignia as used n July/August 1842, andthe 1 The plane inthe background has folded wings and open bomb-bay doors. 41,900hp R-2600-20 engines ‘These were followed by 1,985 $B2C-4s, which had wing racks added for eight 5-inch rockets, Some SB2C-4s were fitted with a radar pod on the right-wing bomb rack for night ‘operations and were desig nated SB2C-4E ("E" for Elec tronics). Curtiss final produc- tion models were 970 SB2C- 5s with increased fuel capacity ‘Other manufacturers were called on to increase Helldiver production. The Canadian branch of Fairchild built 50, SB2C-1s as SBF-1 and 150 $B2C-3s as SBF-3. These were followed by 100 SB2C-4Es as SBF-AE. Canadian Car and Foundry Company (Can-Car) buitt 40 SB2C-1s as SBW-t. A further 26 out of 200 ordered by Britain were delivered as ‘SBW-18 ("B" for Britain). Can-Car then built 413, ‘$B2C-3s as SBW-3, followed by 96 SB2C-4Es as SBW-4E. ‘The 86 SBW-5s were com- pleted from the cancelled ‘SBW-18 order.SONIMVHG LdvH9uIY JIV9S 11 MM INS Pe em a}DOUGLAS BOSTON/ HAVOC/A-20 armament and instruments replacing the French originals 2. Night Fighter—These had solid noses containing British AI MkIV radar, eight 303-cali- ber machine guns and a crew capacity reduced to two. 3. Pandora—Twenty DB-7s with bomb bays modified to carry a large aerial mine and 2,000 feet of cable, The object Was to trail the mine ahead of enemy bomber formations and hhope that it would hit one. ‘ity of te U.S. Army Douglas A20s were competed as rada-oquipped nigh ighters armed with our20mm cannon 4. Turbinlite—Twenty un- ina belly ack Note the overall matte -lack mish and unersiz atom iesgna armed excnight fighters fitted in ; A the nose with 2,700 milion B-75—This designation | _DB-7C—Improved DB-78; | _ British Designations— ——candlepower searchlights for stood for Douglas 48 were ordered for the Britain's Royal Air Force iden- finding and illuminating enemy Bomber Model 7. The first | Netherlands East Indies with | tified its airplanes by given aircraft forthe night fighters production version was or- | interchangeable noses; one for names rather than model ‘Havoc II One hundred ex Gered by France in February a bomber and one containing |-numbers, so the diverted French DB-7As converted to $1699 ae three-seat bomber four 20mm cannon, Only half | French DB-7s and the new | night fighters with 12.303 powered with 1 000hp Pratt & | ofthe order could be del- | American models were named | guns ina solid nose Whitney R-1830-SC3-G Twin | ered, and it was in U.S. Army | “Havoc” and “Boston”. Boston HTwenty of the Wasp engines. thad a trans- | &-20C form, Havoc H-Former French earliest French DB-7s used as, parent bomber nose, four ‘DB-73—Similarto the DB- | DB-7s modified to British trainers by the RAF. fixed for- Boston ward-firng _ IEDrigi- French ma- oe nal desig- chine guns, nation for one flexible Zak later gun in the French DB- rear cockpit 7s; later and a 2,000- 2 redesig- bomb load nated 08-7A— Havos | Improved Boston DB-7s with The 1.600% rin: an ery Doula 4-200 Notte 08-78 nase, eternal pack or ase machine guns and seo rude ties and two ia Wright R- ‘ing sare dolore the marking change of February 1941 Alright an A-20G-40 wih four.50-calber nose machine guns anda ong- ish order 2600-ASB range fry tank under te bel for 300 0B Twin Cy- 7Bs was cione engines and higher ver- | 7B, 480 were ordered by standards. Four diferent mis- | followed by the transfer of 240, tical tails. All DB-7As ordered France in May 1940. They sions were performed by French-ordered DB-73s built by by France were delivered to | were redesignated by Douglas | Havoc I, with the following Douglas, and 240 that Douglas Britain to distinguish them fromthe | special configurations: sub-contracted to Boeing 'DB-78—Further improved | diferently equipped DB-7Bs 1. Intruder—Essentially ‘Tankage increased from the models ordered by Britain. for Britain. French DB-7s with British DB-7A’s 240 US. gallons to394 gallons to allow bomber operations over ‘occupied Europe from En- gland, Starting in mid-1941, many Boston Ills were drafted into the U.S. Army Air Forces. Boston IA—ter DB-78s procured for Britain via Lend- Lease were identified by the USS. Army as A-20C and by Britain as Boston INIA because of their differences from the alBritish Boston I Boston IU. Army ‘A-20Js, complete with Ameri- can armament and coloring; 169 delivered to the RAF. Boston V—Ninety U.S. Army A-20Ks delivered to the RAF. U.S. Designations—There ‘were several experimental and one-off variants ofthe US. ‘Army A-20 and P-70 models, but only significant production versions wil be detailed here When the U.S. gave “popular” names to military aircraft for public discussion in October 1941, the A-20s and P-70s were given the existing British name of Havoc. ‘A-20—An improved DB-7A with side-mounted turbo- superchargers on 1,700hp military R-2600-7 engines {as distinguished from the civil-designated engines of the export models), Original arma- ment was four 30-caliber ‘machine guns in the nose, two flexible 30s in the rear cock- pit, flexible 30 in a ventral tunnel and a fixed .30 in each engine nacelle firing rearward Normal bomb load was 16 100-pound bombs or four 250-pounders. Set-sealing, 394-gallon fuel tanks were an innovation for an American warplane The turbo proved to be troublesome, soit was re- moved (since a plane intended for low-altitude work didn't need the high-altitude benefits of such an installation). The first A-20 was converted to the XP-70 nightfighter prototype, and three others became XF and YF-3 photoplanes. The remaining 59 A-20s were con- verted to P-70s. A-20A—A further 123 im- proved models ordered on the ssame June 30, 1939, contract as the A-20s, but all were de- livered with R-2600-11 engines without turbos. ‘A-208—Improved A-208 with DB-7 nose, which was its principal recognition feature. ‘4-206—Production models similar to the DB-78 except for their US. equipment; 375, Were built by Douglas as A-20C-00 and 140 by Boeing a5 A-200-80. 4A-206—Najor production A-20; 2,850 were but with solid noses and R-2600-23 engines. Early versions had four 20mm cannon in the inose, but these were replaced by four to six 50-caliber ma- ‘chine guns starting at ‘A-206-5. From A-206-20 and ‘on, the single .50-caliber gun in the rear cockpit was re- placed by a pair of 50s in a Martin-powered turret, and a single 50 replaced the 30 in the ventral tunnel. Internal bomb load was 2,000 pounds, but an additonal 2,000 WW II SCALE AIRCRAFT DRAWINGS pounds could be carried on four wing racks. Gross weight increased to 25,700 pounds. ‘A-20H—Similar to late A- 206s but used 1,700hp R- 2600-29 engines; 412 but ‘A-20J—The 450 A-20Js featured a lengthened Plexiglas bomber nose that contained two fixed 50-caliber guns and the famous Norden bomb sight. These were “Lead Bombers” that sighted the target for other A-20s that released their bombs when signaled by the leader ‘A-20K—This was the final model of the A-20 series, with the last of the 413 built deliv- ered September 20, 1944. The airframe was similar to the AA-20H, but it was equipped as, the A204 F-3 Series—The seventh A-20 was converted to the XF-3 photographic plane, still with turbos. The bom racks Were removed and a T-3A camera was installed in the bomb bay, but the defensive armament was retained. Two other A-205 became YF-3s without the turbos. In 1944, 46 A-20Js and A-20KS were converted to F-3As and saw action in Europe. P-70 Series—Sixty A-208 were re-equipped as matte- black night fighters and redesignated P-70. These had radar in a solid nose and four 20mm cannon in a pack under the bomb bay. Engines were ‘non-turbo R-2600-118. The 39 P-70A~1s were A-20Cs with improved radar and six to Me eae eens OR The fish Havoc Isa U.S dim 2 the orginal ‘emy serial amber onthe io bated ot Nae fe enh fed Penns nose power fret nd 800 pound bom on the wing race eight .50-caliber guns in a belly pack The A-20C de- fensive armament was retained. The 65 P-70A-2s were A-206s that were equipped as the P-70A-1s except for the deletion of flexible guns and the change t0 a glossy black finish. The P-70B-2s were ‘modifications of 105 A 20Gs and A-204. The single P-70B-1 was an experi- mental model U.S. Navy BD Series—Atter testing of a former A-20 as the XF-3, the same airplane was stripped of armament and turbos, refitted with R-2600-3 engines and delivered to the U.S. Navy as the BD-1 (Bomber, frst model from Douglas, initial configuration) {or utlity work, such as target towing, It was followed by eight A-208s that were desig- nated BD-2, * * * NOTE: Since the Nye draw- tugs contain production fig 8, dimensions and perfor ‘mance data, the tet Conon: trates om model desiguations find the difference between few i—} Shy = o = = FS 5 ” r=) a ” = a oS > S r=)DOUGLAS BOSTONHAVOC/A-20DOUGLAS A261 HE Douglas A-26 Invader ‘was a logical successor to the A-20 Havoc that took ad- vantage of combat experience, updated technology and im- proved mass-production ‘methods. The design was pro- pposed to the Army in January 4941, and a contract for three prototypes was received soon after. The frst, designated XA-26, was a three-seat ‘bomber similar to the A-20A; the second, XA-26A, was a two-seat night fighter. The XA-268 used the same air- frame, but mounted a 75mm cannon in the right side of the nose The principal diferences from the A-20 were a wider fuselage with side-by-side seating for IADER Close-up of 2 black-painted A26C shows the molded Plexiglas bomber nose andthe bulged plots’ canopy adopted after early 426 combat experience. the nose. Some late versions even had three guns in each outer wing panel, plus wing racks for bombs or 5-inch rockets. With external bombs, the total bomb load was 6,000 Pounds. As a result of early A-26 combat experience, the ‘hepilotand SPECIFICATIONS AND co-pilot PERFORMANCE A-26B bombard, two remotely Wingspan mene ae rets, each et with two .60- | Wing Area caliber guns, and2,000np Eat Welt 70°, Oin, 50, Oi, 540 sq.ft. 22,370 lbs. 27,600 tbs. 1,400 miles Pate? | Gross Went. Whitney ‘igh Speed..55mph at 1,000 ft 7.2800 is Double Wasp Hike! engines. The night-fighter concept was dropped, and production concentrated on two basi versions. The three-seat ‘A-268 attack plane had a solid nose and a variety of fixed, forward-firing, 50-caliber uns. Six to eight were in the nose, and, in some cases, an additional four were caried in paired pods on each side of pilots ‘canopy was bulged slightly up- ‘ward, which increased head room and greatly improved all- around visibility The A-26C was the light bomber vari- ant, still with the turrets but normally cary- ing only two .50-caliber guns in a lengthened Plexiglas bomber nose. Late A-26Cs also carried six wing guns. The XA-26 first flew on July 410, 1942, and production models were in combat in the Pacific by the spring of 1944, but were not notably suocess- {ul until improvements were made. Operations in Europe, starting in September, were more successful The Long Beach plant built 4,150 A-268-DLs and five A-26C-DLs, A new plant in Tulsa, OK, built 205 A-268. DTs and 1,086 A-26C-DTs. The A-26s were redesig- nated B-26 in 1948 and sav extensive service in the Korean War, and some service in the Vietnam war until 1969. ‘The RAF. had ordered 140 ‘A-26Bs but received only two before V-J day. The U.S. Navy received 152 surplus A-26Cs after the war and used them as JD-1 utility planes. They were redesignated UB-264 in 4962, The Air Force retained B-26s as trainers and utility types until 1972 * * Ok The XA26B below shows the large propeler spinners used ‘only on the prototypes and the 7mm cannon that was ited to some production A268. BottoncA Douglas A-268-30-DL with four -S0-calber ‘machine ‘uns in th right side ofthe nose Sind two in he let. The standard turrets’ for all A265 are not ‘shown onthe drawingGINGA heeDOUGLAS C-54 SKYMASTER The third Douglas DC-4 was built as an airliner but was delivered tothe U.S. Amy in war paint as a C-54. HE Douglas DC-4 Sky: pated requirements. Two air- | airlines’ routes, the airlines of the DC-4Es). Gross weight master, which was pro- lines soon backed out, but the and Douglas decided to de-_ | was 62,000 pounds, and pas- duced for the U.S. Army as the DC~4 was completed and velop a smaller, more efficient senger seating was 40, with a 54, was the most widely flown in June 1998. Its model, still called DC-4. The | four-man cockpit crew. The used four-engine transport powerplants were new as then redesignated engines were 1,350hp Pratt & and cargo plane of World War 1,450hp Pratt & Whitney E” for Experimen- | Whitney R-2000-28D1-Gs, 1, with 953 planes buit in R-2180-S1At-Gs; its wing- tal) and was sold to Japan. and the production DC-4 and seven Army versions. Surpris- span was 138 feet, 3 inches: In mid-1939, Douglas be- | its military successors were ingly, though, the plane didn't | and its gross weight was ‘gan work on a new design tothe only airplanes to use them, ‘originate as a military airplane. 65,000 pounds. It proved to meet the airlines’ revised re-_ |About the only significant de Early in 1936, five U.S. ait- be too difficult to maintain, quirements. This aiplane had tail retained from the DC-4€ lines put up $100,000 each to however, and with a passen- a wingspan of only 117 feet | was the tricycle landing gear, help Douglas develop anew, ger capacity of only 52, it ‘and a wing area of 1,460 Which was an innovation that long-range airliner, the DC-4, wasn't cost-effective. After the square feet (compared to the proved to be well-suited to that would meet their antici-’ | DC-4 was tested on the three 2,155-square-foot wingspan ‘large airplanes. Top speed was 265mph; cruising speed was 492mph at 10,000 feet Douglas started a produc tion line at Santa Monica for 61 DC-4s that were ordered by the airlines, but military de- mands precluded their deliv- ery. Even before the frst DC-4 flew in February 1942, the entire production was requis tioned by the U.S. Army. The first 24, which were well along in construction as aiiners, ‘were designated C-54. Later Is. Na 802 ws oral 258 built ry. Notte ag, single wing taints and Soe fo mee lay avy RSD-2 was originally 248 bul othe Army. Not the large, sngle-wing, ailing edge Naps end dified to meet military (e- the application ofa U.S. Navy serial number and Naval Ar Transport Servic insignia tothe nose. Se raltaa eee C-54A,WW Il SCALE AIRCRAFT DRAWINGS The demand for 0-54s was so great that Douglas estab- an “ ee lished a new plant in Chicago This view of a C-540 shows the large, two-s argo doors fitted to all C-54s from the C-54A on. Note the Army for addtional production. The Air Transport Command insignia on the rer tselae. 54s builtin Santa Monica were designated 6-54-00; those builtin Chicago were | of the cabin tanks. There were | of the fuselage for testing as a designated C-54-DC. The U.S. | 100 C-54B-DOs and 120 paratroop deployment aircraft Navy also used C-5ds under G-54B-DCs produced. No production was undertaken the designation of RSD, but €-54C—One C-54A-D0 was on this model they weren't ordered directly | modified for President Franklin €-546—The final produe- from Douglas. Allthe Navy | D. Roosevelt, and included ation model was the C-54G, models were transferred from cargo elevator (for bringing | with 162 bult at Santa Monica the Army, as were 23 him aboard in his wheelchair), | as personnel transports. A ‘Below: this photo of he original ‘Skymasters for Britain luxurious cabin furnishings | further 235 were cancelled at DE shows the many ater Only the first few C-54s, ‘and amenities suited toa VIP. | the war's end, but Douglas fdwemogel aces. Meplaces and none of the RSDS.vere |The airplane was given such completed them, and built mam comtbuin flat models camouflaged, as they weren't | special attention that it was others, as civil transport. was the ey anding gear. expected to fly into combat zones. Army C-54s were pro- cured in the following ver- sions: 6-54—The initial 24 started as airliners and were delivered to the Army with minimal ‘modification. Four fuel tanks were installed in the cabin for extra range, and an extra com- partment was built ahead of a shorter cabin for additional military crew. Passenger ca- pacity was reduced to 14. The civil engines were redesignated R-2000-3, irreverently nicknamed “The U.S. Navy Skymasters— were the Berlin Arlt of 1948- -54A—The remainder of Sacred Cow.” ‘The C-54s transfered to the 49, with 336 Skymastersin- the original airline orders and -—-C-54D—Bult only inhi- | U.S. Navy were designated as volved, and a major airlift op- later Army production totaled cago, the 380 C-540-DCs follows: R5D-1: 56 C-54A, eration during the Korean War. 252: 97 C-54A-DOs and 155 were improved C-S4Bs with | RD-2: 30 C-54B, RSD-3: 86 Postwar modifications and €-54-DCs. Major changes R-2000-11 engines. C-54D, R5D-4: 20 6-54E and redesignation of C-54s and were alarge 67x94-inch, two- _G-54E—The 125 C-S4ED0s | RSD-5: 13 C-546. RBDs resulted in designations section cargo door on the left were builtin Santa Monica and | Postwar Use—Civil DC-4s as high as C-54S. The last Air side of the fuselage and a rein- were similar to ‘and converted C-54s went into Force and Navy C-54s weren't forced floor to accommodate C-54Bs exceptfor their in- | airline service soon after the retired until the early 1970s, heavy cargo. Gross weight creased fuel capacity. The ‘war. Although they outnum- increased to 73,000 pounds cabin was rearranged to bered the newer Lockheed with the addition of R-2000-7 permit a quick change from Constellation, they were at a engines all-cargo to 50 troops in competitive disadvantage 6-54B—These were im- canvas seats because they weren't pressur- proved C-54As with additional” -X€-54F—OneC-548-DC _—_ized. The most notable post- Wing fuel tanks replacing two had jump doors on each side | war uses of the C-54 RHD= Dog oem Lenarn “eeveacreo ese Hace, eae jouer or ie! ese mee oe: ‘ese renzo hom ese ees Tun snc ome Sor aa0es— ic Secnoney anentens esr Be xase Seon Saopoiane Oe y eae os daar Sse bse = Goa (eons tnronnce beee “ene rte Tease ansranse Se 6s fs ~ soe stan cree ata Tineacenr ac “Bree Bee ee Seaine Jae ‘ v Lec iran Sa Orso ‘sens te eres nines iy etn es ire? tes toe 29 ugrs eanoem ‘Bee dere fase nore Oroed= fee an tana Racestf te emai DOUGLAS C-54 SKYMASTER |FAIRCHILD PT-19, PT-23, P1-26 Aa siverFaireité-suit 'PF-28 with 220hp Con tinenta! Radial engine ‘and 1942-43 sar mark HE Fairchild M-62, which | and control surfaces. Its initial was the U.S. Army PT-19, powerplant was the 175hp ‘was one of several successful inverted, six-cylinder, air- entrants in a 1939 competition cooled Ranger L-440-1 en- for new Army primary trainers | gine. Because ofthe low-wing and, with another winner, the configuration, a stout steel Ryan ST-A(PT-16),itintro- turnover pylon was built be- duced monoplane primary | tween the two open cockpits. trainers to the Army. The initial 1989 order for The PT-19 had awelded —_-270 PT-19s was soon supple- steel-tube fuselage with ply- | mented by orders for 3,702 ‘wood-covered wooden wing | PT-19As with 200hp L-440-3, and fixed tl surfaces, and engines and 917 PT-198s, fabric covering for fuselage | equipped for instrument train- ‘Above: The first Farchilé-ullPT-26 was a winterized PT-19A with enclosed ‘cockpits. This airplane carried Royal Air Force serial number FHESI and US. ‘Army seria! number 42-12499. The R.A.F. designation was Cornell. Roun- ‘els and fin Nash are coret fr the 1940 to mié-1941 period. ‘Below: A bv and yellow U.S. Army Fairchild PT-19 aver Randolph Feld, TX, in 1981, aoc? ing, The demand for PT-19As was more than Fairchild could handle, so the work was split up. Fairchild built 3,181 PT-19A-FAs, Aeronca (-AE) built 477 and St. Louis (-SL) built 44, Aeronca also built 143 PT-19Bs; Fairchild built 774 ‘As a hedge against a short- age of Ranger engines, the 220hp Continental R-670-4 radial engine was substituted in two PT-23s, that were built by Fairchild, 375 by ‘Reronca, 199 by Howard (:H0), 200 by St. Louis and 93 by Fleet Aircraft in Canada (-FE). Under the Lend-Lease Program of March 1941 the U.S. Army provided British Empire forces with a winter- ized version of the PT-19A, which was designated PT-26. Fairchild buit 670 as Cornell Fleet built 807 as Cornel! I Fleet built a further 250 PT- 268s as Cornel Ill. Most of these carried RAF. or RCAF. markings and serial numbers ‘and were painted yellow, and because they were being paid for with U.S. Army funds, they also carted the appropriate U.S. ‘Army designation and serial numbers. The U.S. Army re- ceived 517 Canadian-built PT-26As with U.S. markings The drawing shows an RCAF. Comell built by Fleet. Although it was delivered in 1943, it carried the wie, late- 1940-style fin flash and the Type-A roundels that were dis- continued in June 1942. Canada was noted for using older mark- ings on new-production aircraft until the end of the war. The plane illustrated here carried three military serial ‘SPECIFICATIONS AND PERFORMANCE PT-26A Wingspan 35 ft, 11 in, Length 27 ft, Bin Wing Area 200 sqft Empty Weight... 2,020 ibs. Gross Weight... 2,630 Ibs. High Speed... 128mph numbers—U.S. Army 42-65690; FV215, originally assigned by the RAF; and 15116, adopted after it was transferred to the RCAF. Most PT-26s were yellow, but some were finished in sil- ver. U.S. Army PT-19s were prewar blue and yellow through the spring of 1942; after that, they were silver. The low cost and simplicity of the various Fairchild PTs made them popu- lar on the surplus market after the war, and many are stil used by private ownersWW Il SCALE AIRCRAFT DRAWINGS © ® © @ ® (| . ; — Dees E Fas eeeFIAT CR 42 FALCON HE ttalian Fiat CR 42 Falco (Falcon) has the distinction of being the last biplane fighter to be produced and put into first-line service by a ma- jor warring power. The proto- type ofthis thoroughly anach- ronistic, open-cockpit,fabric- covered biplane with fixed landing gear flew early in 1939, Production continued into 1942, and 1,781 were built The initials “CR” in the des- ignation identity Celestino Rosatell a famous designer of long standing. His CR 42 evolved from a long line of CR fighter, starting with the CR 20 of 1923. All shared the tunique feature of the Warren Truss arrangement of the wing struts. All models through the CR 33 featured liquid-cooled engines, while subsequent models used air-cooled radial engines, Its powerplant was the 840hp Fiat A74 R.C.38 twin- row radial engine, and the ini- tial armament was one 7.7mm and one 12.7mm machine gun in the nose. The later CR 42ter (third version) had four 2.7mm guns, two of which were in blisters in the lower wing. The CR 42 AS. (‘AS.” for “Africa Settentrionale,” or North Africa) was a ground- attack version with two 220- The CA 42 that was captured during the Bate of Britain is shown here, ‘markings restored. The number BT474 onthe fuselage isn't alan; I's the R.A.F. serial number assigned tothe plane ‘when twas test Town In England, ound bombs, and the CR 42 CIN. ("CN for "Gaccia Notturna,” or Night Fighter) was used as a defensive night fighter in Northern Italy. There was also a twin-float seaplane version, the ICR 42 ("I for “Idrovoiante,” or Seaplane) One CR 42 was fitted with a 4,020hp German Daimler- Benz DB-601 liquid-cooled engine, (used in the Me.109 as CR 428), and turned in the almost unbelievable speed (for a biplane) of 323mph Italy entered the war on ‘June 10, 1940, with 300 CR 425, These planes fought everywhere the Italian Air Prewar talon ‘udder makings were red white ond ‘green stripes, with the crest o the ‘ling House of Savoy a he fp of Ihe white stripe. Force was engaged, and were | war on Germany on October involved in some of the last 13, but the CR 42s were all in significant biplane vs. biplane the hands of the part of Italy battles when CR 42s fought that remained loyal to Hitler. British Gloster Glaciators over Four “escaped,” however, to Greece, join the ant North Africa SPECIFICATIONS Fascist Co-Bellig- and Malta. AND PERFORMANCE erent Air Force. SomeCR R-42 The pertor- 42s took yin. | Mance and price part in Meera STEAM | ofthe CR 42 May's token Length 27 ft, 24%4in. | made it popular raidson Wing Area......240.5 sq.ft. | onthe export England market. Sweden during the | Grass Weight ....5,042 IBS. | nought 72 CR Battle of ‘High Speed. 244mph | 42bis (second Britain in the 4 6560 ft. | version) models, fall of 1940. each with two One was forced down intact | 12.7mm guns, and kept them in and can be seen today in the | first-line service until 1945, Battle of Britain Museum near | Belgium bought 34 in Septem- London. Atleast 113 CR 42s ber 1939, but most ofthese were stil in service when Italy | were destroyed on the ground surrendered to the Allies on by the Luftwaffe in the 1940 September 8, 1943. Italy Blitz, Hungary also bought joined the Alies and deciared export models.FIAT CR 42 FALCONFOCKE-WULF 190A HE design ofthe Focke- ‘Wulf 190 began in 1937 as a back-up to the Messer- ‘schmitt 109 that had been selected as the standard Ger man fighter. The design con- cept was entirely different, featuring an air-cooled BMW racial engine and a wide-track, inward-retracting landing gear. The frst fight of the = j Fee ng oiype Nas on TA “tctorytesh” F-19041, Noe the dstinctive rer sing canopy and te wide-track andng gear. The ut June 1, 1939, but production tact. ee ‘models weren't in combat ee until September 1941 variants carrying special the fuselage and two 250kg | and a variety of up to four wing ‘AS afighter, the FW-190A equipment for specialized mis (550-pound) bombs under the guns or four 20mm wing can- outperformed the older British sions. These included aerial wings, but some could carry anon. For attacks on Allied Spitfire Vs that were surpass- cameras for reconnaissance, single 1,000kg (2,200-pound) bomber formations, some ing the contemporary Me- batteries of up to six 30mm bomb. This was so close to. _-FW-190A-6/R6s were fitted 109s. The Spitfire didn't catch cannon for use against tanks the ground that the lower fin with underwing pods for upto the FW-190A until the and naval torpedoes for at- of the bomb had to be clipped 210mm rockets, appearance of the Spitfire [Xin tacks against ships. There for the plane to take off These improved versions ofthe July 1942, although it was were even two-seat trainer ‘long-range fighter-bombers FW-190 were tested with designed as a fighter, the versions. ‘were very successful in pen- features such as cabin pressur- FW-190 was readily adaptable | ‘Twin-engine German bomb- | etrating British defenses and | ization and a water-methanol ‘to many other missions. The ers had dificulty reaching tar- completing effective raids. injection that increased the FW-190A reached the -10 gets in England in 1942 and The armament ditfered ‘normal 1,600hp of the engine variant, with many sub- 1943, so some FW-190A-5s greatly in fighter versions, to 2,100hp for bref periods were fitted with bomb racks from the inital four 7.9mm | Other engines were tied: the and auxiliary fel tanks. Nor- | machine guns (two in the nose Me-109's 1,750hp Daimier- SPECIFICATIONS mal bomb load was one 500k andtwo in the wings), toa | Benz DB-603, used in the ex- AND PERFORMANCE (1,100-pound) bomb under standard of two nose guns perimental FW-190C, and the FW-190A-8 41,776hp Junkers Jumo 213A, Wingspan 34 ft, 51/2. used in the production Lingth ae FW-190D. Later FW-1900 vari- ants were so extensively a- tered from the short-nose, racial-engined FW-190A series that they were redesignated Ta-152" (or designer Kurt Tank). Altogether, some 20,000 tas 18880 Empty Weight... 7,000 Ibs. Gross Weight. 9,750 Ibs. Overload Weight . 10,805 Ibs. High Speed. 408 it i pase ut ni 1 i Fe il Focke-Wulf plants, two Arado Pianta soot | Basactsees ed arene reer te sae ‘The crasses on the underside ofthe wing aren the same poston, but theyre Fieseler plant. ‘me wide-borer type used on the fuselage Normal Range.