The Douglas XB-19 was originally designated XBLR-2 (eXperimental Bomber Long-Range 2) and was the largest bomber built for the Army up to that time (1938).
The XB-19 was essentially used as a test bed for very large bomber construction techniques and flight characteristics. The Douglas Aircraft Company actually wanted to cancel the project because of the expense and extended construction time which made the aircraft obsolete before it ever flew. However, the Army Air Corps insisted the aircraft be completed for test use.
The XB-19's first flight was 27 June 1941, more than 3 years after the construction contract was awarded. In 1943, the original radial engines were replaced by Allison V-3420 in-line engines and the aircraft was redesignated XB-19A. After testing was completed, the XB-19A was used as a cargo/transport aircraft until 1949 when it was scrapped.
Douglas XB-19 on YOUTUBE
3-View
A three-view drawing (605 x 713)
Specification
CREW
16
ENGINE
4 x 2000hp
WEIGHTS
Take-off weight
73467 kg
161968 lb
DIMENSIONS
Wingspan
64.62 m
212 ft 0 in
Length
40.23 m
132 ft 0 in
Height
13.03 m
43 ft 9 in
PERFORMANCE
Max. speed
360 km/h
224 mph
Ceiling
7015 m
23000 ft
Range
8372 km
5202 miles
ARMAMENT
2 x 37mm cannon, 5 x 12.7mm + 6 x 7.62mm machine-guns , 16330kg of bombs
My father, Lester Gravlin, was a tool & dye designer for the B-19. In 1941 (I was 5)he took me to see the maiden flight.When they rolled it out of the hanger, it cracked the concrete and had to be put back until they could reinforce the runway. We went back when this had been done and saw the takeoff. It was huge.
When I was a young boy about 9 or 10 my father was a Captain in the Material Command at Wright or Patterson Air Base when we went to an air show with the B-19 on display and a Wright Brothers plane sitting on the wing tip of the B-19 celebrating the length of the first flight as being about the length of the B-19 wing. As I remember one of the Wright brothers was there to celebrate. What a sight to remember. Seems to me I saw one of the gigantic wheels from the landing gear of the B-19 on display at the Wright-Patterson Aircraft museum some years back.
My Dad, Leon Singleton, now a healthy 99-yrs (born in 1911)was a mechanic on the B-19 at the Santa Monica plant. He helped train Rosie the Riveters (my Mother was one)and vividly recalls the aircraft, working on it and even taking a nap inside sometimes on lunch hour. He was in the crowd of Douglas employees in the photos of that first flight.
I was surprised to learn that the B-19 used eight Allison engines, paired two in each nacelle. Apparently the arrangement worked without any problems since nothing has been written concerning any. Curiously, during WW2 the Germans tried the same thing, mating two Daimler-Benz engines in each of two engine nacelles on the Heinkel He 177 "Greif" bomber.Due to the difficult aircraft specifications they had to meet, and the absence of 2,000+ horsepower engines, they were forced to mate the two powerplants to obtain the 2,750 h.p. necessary to turn each 4-blade propeller. The engine and nacelle design was cramped, with little space normally alloted for safety reasons, resulting in a "sardine can" arrangement. Engine manifold overheating would frequently cause in-flight oil fires in the close spaces with loss of the aircraft. After much discussion as to how to solve the problem, it was decided to replace the four engine-two nacelles design with four engines in four nacelles, each of which would provide ample space for safety. Credit has to be given to the Douglas engineering team for being able to accomplish with paired engines what the Germans at Heinkel were unable to do.
I remember the B19 as a kid 13 only in magazines but had heard the cabin was used as a restuarant. We here locally also had one of its Engines out of our "Park Queen" Kaiser's "Hawaii Kai" It was a"W" engine, Two Allisons on a common crankcase geared together. Lots of accessories marked"MAYTAG".Dont know who actually built it??
To Don Bobzin: The B-19 was never a taildragger, but was designed and built as a tricycle gear aircraft. What you may be thinking of is the B-15 which was also a "technology testbed" type aircraft built by Boeing a little earlier than the B-19. It looked like an overgrown B-17 and was indeed a taildragger.
I remember the take-off very well, but it was from Santa Monica, not San Diego. They filled a mountain of dirt and realigned roadways to get it off the ground. Once it was up it was over the water and the runway was to short to land at Santa Monica again. I and thousands of other students watched the take-off from the bridges between buildings at Venice High School.
Watched this one take off from San Diego with the thought it would not get off the runway in time to clear the end. It was so slow getting to take-off speed, partly because it was so huge it just looked slow. San Diego was one of the few runways that was strong enough for it to land on.
I've seen the video of that landing and it is a little scary. If you look carefully you can tell that the problem is not with the pilot, but with the control system. There seems to be a fault in the control response in the elevator that induces an oscillation. It really is a shame that the aircraft wasn't preserved for posterity.
My father in law Harry Jones was a Douglas mechanic and was envolved with this aircraft. He mailed a letter on its first flight from Santa Monica to March field. The pilot made a very erattic landing rounding out too high and then working it down. This is still available on some videos.
My grandfather was served in the Navy during Wirld War II. In 1946, he began working for MASDC in Tucson, Arizona, located adjacent to DMAFB. He worked there for 41 years until his retirement. Throughout my chilhood years and well into my early adulthood, we would discuss various types of aircraft and their merits. A few years before his death in 2002, he gave me the original data plate from the XB-19. It seems he had removed it before it was scrapped.
What an interesting article and comments on the B-19. Very few, if any, are aware of the plane. In 1941 I visited my father who was an officer in the Signal Corps and bassed at Wright Field. Knowing how much I was interested in aviation, my father invited a young Army pilot to join us for dinner. He told us stories of flying and invited us to Wright Field the next day for a tour of the B-19. I recall the huge tires and the multi-level enterior. A picture of the plane had a chooice location on the wall in my bedroom. I joined the Army Air Corps a year later becoming a first pilot on a B-17 and completed 35 missions over Germany. Until now, I had not heard anything about the B-19. Thank you.
I FIRST SAW THE B-19 AS A STUDENT PILOT FLYING A CUB IN OCTOBER OR NOV, 1941; I WAS ON AN EARLY SOLO FLIGHT OVER SOCAL WHEN I LOOKED AHEAD AND FOUND MYSELF NOSE TO NOSE WITH THE BIGGEST AIRPLANE I HAD EVER SEEN. TO BE FAIR, HE WAS ABOUT 500 FEET HIGHER BUT, MAN WAS THAT A BIG BIRD!! IN 1960, I WAS WORKING AT THE DOUGLAS SANTA MONICA PLANT AND WAS SHOWN THE MOMENTO OF THE ROLL-OUT OF THE B-19. STLL VISIBLE IN THE ASPHALT OUTSIDE HANGER DOOR WERE TWO LARGE PATCHES WHERE THE WHEELS OF THAT BIRD SANK INTO THE ASPHALT AS SHE WAS FIRST ROLLED OUT.
