B-32 Dominator
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| B-32 Dominator | |
|---|---|
 Consolidated B-32-1-CF, the first B-32 built after modification to Block 20 standards.(USAF Photo) |
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| Type | Heavy bomber |
| Manufacturer | Consolidated Aircraft |
| Maiden flight | 7 September 1942 |
| Introduced | 27 January 1945 |
| Retired | 30 August 1945 |
| Primary user | US Army Air Force |
| Produced | 1944-1945 |
| Number built | 118 |
The Consolidated B-32 Dominator (Consolidated Model 34) was a heavy bomber made for United States Army Air Forces during World War II, and has the distinction of being the last Allied aircraft to be engaged in combat during World War II. It was developed in parallel with the Boeing B-29 Superfortress as a fallback design should the Superfortress prove unsuccessful[1]. It only reached units in the Pacific during the summer of 1945, and subsequently only saw limited combat operations against Japanese targets before the end of the war. Most of the extant orders of the B-32 were canceled shortly thereafter and only 118 B-32s (of all types) were built.
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[edit] Design and development
The engineering development of the B-29 had been underway since mid-1938 when, in June 1940, the US Army Air Corps requested a similar design from Consolidated Aircraft Company in case of development difficulties with the B-29.
The Consolidated Model 33 used to base its proposal was similar to the B-24 Liberator. Like the B-24 it was originally designed with twin fins and a large Davis-type wing, but with a longer, rounder fuselage and a rounded nose. The powerplants were to be four 2,200 hp Wright R-3350s, the same as specified for B-29s. The aircraft was designed to be pressurized, and have remote controlled retractable gun turrets with fourteen 50 caliber (12.7 mm) machine guns. It was to have an estimated gross weight of 101,000 lb (45,814 kg). The first contract for two XB-32's was signed on 6 September 1940, the same day as the contract for the Boeing prototype XB-29.
The first XB-32-CO, AAF s/n 41-141, rolled off the assembly line six months behind schedule, making its first flight on 7 September 1942. Due to problems with the pressurization system, the gun turrets and landing gear doors, these items were omitted on the first prototype. The aircraft had R-3350-13 engines inboard and R-3350-21s outboard driving three-bladed propellers. The prototype was to have persistent problems with engine oil leaks and poor cooling. The inboard propellers could be reversed to shorten the landing roll.[2]
The first XB-32 was armed with eight .50 caliber (12.7 mm) machine guns in dorsal and ventral turrets, and an odd combination of two .50 caliber and one 20 mm cannon in each outboard engine nacelle firing rearwards controlled by aiming stations inside the aircraft, plus two 50 caliber machine guns in the wings outboard of the propellers.[3]
On 17 March 1943, the initial contract was signed for 300 B-32-CFs but development problems continued. On 10 May 1943, the first XB-32 crashed on takeoff after making a total of 30 flights before the second XB-32, s/n 41-142, finally flew on July 2. This aircraft had a traditional stepped cockpit canopy. Upon examination and testing the USAAF recommended a large number of changes that included more conventional gun stations.
The pressurization system problems were never solved and the intention that the aircraft were to be operated a low and medium heights only meant that it was easily eliminated from production aircraft. Problems with the remote controlled gun turrets were also never solved and the armament on production aircraft was changed to ten .50 caliber machine guns in the nose, dorsal, ventral and tail positions. The bomb load was increased by 4,000 pounds (1,814 kg) to 20,000 pounds (9,072 kg).
The second XB-32 continued to have stability problems. In an attempt to resolve this a B-29 style tail was fitted to the aircraft after its 25th flight but this did not resolve the problem and a Consolidated-designed 19.5 foot (5.9 m) vertical tail was added and first flown on the third XB-32, s/n 41-18336 on 3 November 1943. The first production aircraft was fitted with a B-29 vertical tail initially before a new tail was eventually substituted.
By 1944 testing of the three prototypes permitted the AAF to place orders for over 1,500 B-32s. The first production aircraft was delivered on 19 September 1944, by which time the B-29 was already in combat in China. The first B-32 crashed on the same day it was delivered when the nose wheel collapsed on landing. After a review by the USAAF and a recommendation that the test phase be completed before cancelling the program, Beginning 27 January 1945, 40 B-32A-5, -10 and -15 aircraft were delivered as unarmed TB-32-CF crew trainers.
Originally, the Army Air Force intended the B-32 as a "fallback" design to be used only if the B-29 program fell significantly behind in its development schedule. As development of the B-32 became seriously delayed this plan became unnecessary due to the success of the B-29. Initial plans to use the B-32 to supplement the B-29 in re-equipping B-17 and B-24 groups before redeployment of the Eighth and Fifteenth Air Forces to the Pacific were stymied when only five production models had been delivered by the end of 1944, by which time full B-29 operations were underway in the Twentieth Air Force.
[edit] Production
- XB-32-CO: 3
- B-32-1-CF: 10
- B-32-5-CF: 4
- B-32-20-CF: 20
- B-32-21-CF: 1
- B-32-25-CF: 25
- B-32-30-CF: 7
- B-32-35-CF: 7
- TB-32-5-CF: 11
- TB-32-10-CF: 25
- TB-32-15-CF: 4
Orders for a further 1,099 B-32-CFs and 499 B-32-COs were cancelled after VJ-Day.[4]
[edit] Operational history
The first assignment of the B-32 began when General George Kenney the commander of Allied air forces in the South West Pacific Area, and commander of the U.S. Fifth Air Force, traveled to Washington D.C. to request B-29s. Since priority had been given to strategic bombing by the B-29, Kenney’s request was denied, after which he requested the B-32.
Following a demonstration, the Army General Staff agreed that Kenney could conduct a combat evaluation, and a test schedule of eleven missions was set up, followed by a plan to convert two of the 312th Bomb Group's four A-20 Havoc squadrons to B-32s. Project crews took three B-32s to Clark Field, Luzon, Philippine Islands in mid-May 1945, for a series of test flights completed on 17 June. The test crews were impressed with its unique reversible-pitch inboard propellers and the Davis wing which gave it excellent landing performance. However, they found a number of faults: the cockpit had an extremely high noise level, a poor instrument layout, the bombardier's vision was impaired, it was overweight and the nacelle design resulted in frequent engine fires.
The three test B-32s were assigned to the 312th BG's 386th Bomb Squadron. On 29 May 1945, the first of four combat missions by the B-32 was flown against a supply depot at Antatet in the Philippines, followed by two B-32's dropping sixteen 2,000 pound (907 kg) bombs on a sugar mill at Taito, Formosa on the 15 June. On 22 June, a B-32 bombed an alcohol plant at Heito, Formosa, with 500 pound bombs (227 kg) but a second B-32 missed flak positions with its 260-pound (118 kg) fragmentation bombs. The last mission was flown on 25 June against bridges near Kiirun in Taiwan.
The testing missions were mostly successful, and, in July, the 386th Bomb Squadron completed its transition to the B-32, flying six more combat missions before the war ended. On the 13 August, the 386th BS moved from Luzon to Yontan Airfield on Okinawa and flew mostly photographic reconnaissance missions, and was attacked on 17 August by flak and fighters despite the Japanese surrender, claiming one kill and two probable kills.
On 18 August, a formation of 14 A6M Zeros and three N1K2-J Shiden-Kai fighters (as is often the case, Shiden-Kai is described as Ki-44 Tojo, but it may be misunderstanding of the crews[5][6]) attacked four of the B-32s conducting aerial photography of the Japanese Islands. The B-32 Dominator Hobo Queen II (s/n 42-108532) suffered extensive damage during the attack. Three photographers aboard (SSgt. Anthony)J. Marchione, SSgt. Joseph M. Lacharite, and Sgt. John T. Houston) were at the camera hatch at the rear of the aircraft when the plane was riddled with gunfire. Despite his own wounds, Lacharite administered first aid to the badly wounded Marchione, who was wounded again and died on the aircraft. This was the last confirmed aerial engagement of World War II, and Sgt. Marchione was the last confirmed Allied combat casualty of the war. Hobo Queen II claimed two Zeros destroyed in the action as well as a probable Shiden-Kai.
The last B-32 combat photo reconnaissance mission was completed on 28 August, during which two B-32s were destroyed in separate accidents, with 15 of the 26 crewmen killed. On 30 August, the 386th Bomb Squadron stood down from operations. Production of the B-32 was cancelled on 8 September 1945, and ceased by 12 October.
[edit] Surviving airframes
No examples remain of a B-32. Most production aircraft were delivered incomplete from the factory and flown directly to Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona for storage. Many were offered for sale by the Reconstruction Finance Corporation but no offers were received. A number of B-32 heavy bombers were flown to the Walnut Ridge Army Airfield, in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas, where they were scrapped by the Texas Railway Equipment Company, which bought 4,871 of the various aircraft stored at Walnut Ridge, including fighters and bombers of differing types. Most B-32s were scrapped by 1947.[citation needed]
B-32-1-CF, s/n 42-108474 was earmarked for display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force (at the time, the Air Force Museum) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, but was declared surplus and scrapped at Davis-Monthan in August 1949.
The only portion of a B-32 surviving is a wing panel removed from a static test model and erected at the Montgomery Memorial near San Diego, California as a monument to aviation pioneer John J. Montgomery.[3]
A flight jacket belonging to member of the 386th BS, with a B-32 hand-painted on the back, is on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force near Dayton, Ohio.
[edit] Operators
United States Army Air Forces: 386th Bomb Squadron (Heavy), 312th Bomb Group
[edit] Specifications (B-32)
General characteristics
- Crew: 10
- Length: 83 ft 1 in (25.3 m)
- Wingspan: 135 ft 0 in (41.2 m)
- Height: 33 ft 0 in (10.1 m)
- Wing area: 1,442 ft² (132.1 m²)
- Empty weight: 60,000 lb (27,000 kg)
- Loaded weight: 100,000 lb (45,000 kg)
- Max takeoff weight: 111,500 lb (50,580 kg)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 357 mph (310 knots, 575 km/h)
- Cruise speed: 290 mph (252 knots, 467 km/h)
- Range: 2,600 nm (3,000 mi, 4,815 km)
- Service ceiling 35,000 ft (11,000 m)
- Rate of climb: 658 ft/min (3.4 m/s)
- Wing loading: 70.3 lb/ft² (341 kg/m²)
Armament
- Guns: 10× .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns
- Bombs: 20,000 lb (9,100 kg)
[edit] See also
Related development
Comparable aircraft
- B-29 Superfortress
- Lockheed XB-30
- Douglas XB-31
- XB-33 Super Marauder
- Avro Lincoln
- Messerschmitt Me 264
- Tupolev Tu-4
- B-17 Flying Fortress
Related lists
[edit] References
[edit] Notes
- ^ Jones 1974, p. 106.
- ^ Jones, Lloyd S. U.S. Bombers: 1928 to 1980s. Fallbrook, California: Aero Publishers, Inc., 1969. ISBN 0-81689-126-5.
- ^ a b Baugher, Joe. B-32 Dominator. B-32 Dominator Retrieved: 27 April 2007.
- ^ Andrade 1979, p. 51.
- ^ Sakai, Saburo. The Last of Zero Fighters (零戦の最期)(in Japanese). Bunkyo, Tokyo: Kodansya, 2003 (Paperback edition). ISBN 978-4062568067.
- ^ Saburo Sakai's Last Battle abstract description in English.
[edit] Bibliography
- Andrade, John M. U.S. Military Aircraft Designations and Serials since 1909. Earl Shilton, Leicester, UK: Midland Counties Publications, 1979. ISBN 0-904597-22-9.
- Bowman, Martin W. USAAF Handbook 1939-1945. Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK: Sutton Publishing, 2003. ISBN 0-8117-1822-0.
- Harding, Stephen and Long, James I. Dominator: The Story of the Consolidated B-32 Bomber. Missoula, MT: Pictorial Histories Publishing Company, 1984. ISBN 0-93312-638-7.
- Jones, Lloyd S. U.S. Bombers: B-1 1928 to B-1 1980s. Fallbrook, CA: Aero Publishers, Inc., 1974. ISBN 0-8168-9126-5.
- Sinko, Benjamin A. Echoes of the Dominator: the Tales and the Men who flew the B-32. Blaine, MN: Up North Press, 2007. ISBN 978-0-6151-5898-3.
- Wolf, William. Consolidated B-32 Dominator: The Ultimate Look, from Drawing Board to Scrapyard. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 2006. ISBN 0-76432-451-9.
[edit] External links
- Encyclopedia of American Aircraft
- Fact Sheet on B-32 Dominator at the National Museum of the United States Air Force
- A photograph of the Consolidated 33 XB-32 Dominator 41-141 in flight
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