The Consolidated XB2Y was an American prototype single-engined dive bomber of the 1930s. It was intended to meet a United States Navy requirement for a carrier-based dive bomber, but was unsuccessful, only a single example being built.
Consolidated's proposal was the Model 24 (or XB2Y in the US Navy's designation system), a single-baybiplane developed from a basic design prepared by the Navy's Bureau of Aeronautics with detailed design led by Consolidated's B Douglas Thomas,[2] formerly Chief Designer of Thomas Morse Aircraft, which had become part of Consolidated Aircraft in 1929.[4]
In order to withstand the high g-forces experienced during pullup after a dive attack, much of the aircraft's center-section was cut from a solid steel block.[2][5] It was powered by a similar Pratt & Whitney R-1535 Twin Wasp Juniorair-cooledradial engine as used by the Great Lakes design,[2][3] and had a fixed tailwheel undercarriage. The crew of two sat in tandem in separate cockpits, with the observer in the rear cockpit armed with a single flexibly mounted machine gun, and the pilot with a single fixed synchronized machine gun firing through the aircraft's propeller arc. Its bombload was carried on a crutch under the fuselage that swung down to ensure the bomb would clear the propeller when dropped in a steep dive.[2]
Operational history
The prototype XB2Y-1 (serial number 9221[6]) was completed in 1933, being delivered on 28 June 1933.[2] Testing was unsuccessful,[2] with the aircraft's performance being unsatisfactory,[7] while the aircraft also proved very expensive to build.[2][5] The US Navy preferred the Great Lakes design, with 60 being ordered as BG-1s.[3]
The XB2Y-1 was modified to a scout configuration, removing the bomb crutch. This allowed it to reach a height of 23,400 ft (7,100 m),[2] and it was used by NACA at Langley, Virginia for pilot view tests.[8]
Specifications (XB2Y-1)
Data from General Dynamics Aircraft and their Predecessors[9]