Bomber Aircraft
Consolidated PBY Catalina: Flying boat, used as an anti-submarine bomber and a search and rescue. A total of 5 turret gunners, two in the nose, one in the ventral hatch and two as waist gunners. Waist gunners operated .50 cal, others operated .30 cal. Could hold up to 4,000 lbs of bombs and reach a max speed of 190 mph. Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress: Four engine, heavy bomber developed by Boeing in the 1930's. Primarily used as a day time, strategic precision bomber focused on hitting German industrial and military complexes. Consists of a crew of 10, eight different gunner positions with .50 cal M2 Brownings and an overload of 17,600 lbs. Can reach speeds of up to 280 mph. Consolidated B-24 Liberator: Four engine heavy bomber developed by Consolidated Aircraft. Although faster, longer distance and able to carry a larger bomb load than the B-17, it was harder to fly and had poor formation characteristics. Crews often preferred the B-17 over the newer B-24. Bomb load of 8,000 lbs of bombs and ten .50 Cal M2 Brownings as defense turrets. It can reach speeds of up to 303 mph. Douglass SBD Dauntless: Naval scout plane and dive bomber. Carrier borne aircraft from 1940 to 1944 and arguably one of the best dive-bombers of its era. With good range, speed, handling, potent bomb load capacity, great diving characteristics and effective defensive armament, it outperforms that of any other country. Holds 2,250 lbs of bombs, has two .50 cal forward facing and two .30 cal as the defensive turret. Maximum speed of 250 mph. North American B-25 Mitchell: Twin engine medium bomber first used in 1942. Though it was mostly meant for medium altitude bombings, it was used to strike at tree top level in strafe runs. One of the first operations was an early attack on the Japanese homeland because of the bombers range. Forcing Japan to return soldiers to defend their home country. Max speed of 328 mph and a payload of 3,000 lbs. Its armaments included three turret operators and firing .50 cal M2 Brownings and six forward facing offensive .50 cal M2 Brownings. Grumman TBF Avenger: The need for a fast, hard hitting torpedo bomber was crucially needed. The Avenger Was created to match these needs. 275 mph and two frontal .50 cals with a rear defensive 30.cal and up to 2,000 lbs of. Bombs. Boeing B-29 Superfortress: Quad engine bomber that was very effective due to its aerodynamic fuselage and bullet proof glass. It also featured a pressurized cabin and could fly 3,500 miles. It is known for its role in the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It could hold 20,000 pounds of bombs and had 12 defensive .50 Cal and a .79 Cal cannon. Flew at a top speed of 358 mph. Boeing B-47 Stratojet: Speculated to be another prototype by the air force and even Boeing, few had belief due to the swept wing design that was gathered from Nazi Germany. Just a year after its first flight, it was obvious the B-47 was out-flying its straight wing contemporaries. A test pilot jet was sent to follow the B-47 to check its speed, he radioed in that he couldn't keep up. The B-47 was cruising at 609 mph. The B-47 was able to keep the Russians on alert of the nuclear bomber during the Cold War. |