Early Consolidated XB-24 concept

[hesham]

From my dear Scott site;


http://up-ship.com/blog/?p=8952

 

[toura]

Hi Hesham
I've this one which look like yours
From a Russian site ??? as the lb 16 !
with turrets ??
Did one of you know ??

 

[hesham]

That's new for me,thank you my dear Toura.

 

[toura]

Well !
From the same origin
LB 25
LB 29
bYE

 

[Stargazer]

All the LB- series of projects led to the Liberator as we know it. Of course, the LB-30 was actually built and delivered to Britain.

 

[ACResearcher]

When the AAF (AAC? I can never remember the changeover date) viewed the mockup and gave the go-ahead for Consolidated's new bomber it was designated the LB-16 and documents refer to it as such. It would not be given the designation of XB-24 until later in the project. An extraordinarily rare photo of the mockup appears in Bob (Robert E.) Bradley's excellent book on Convair Advanced Designs.

The LB-series of designs were nearly all (and maybe completely - need to dig through my documents) created for various AAC circular proposals and each appears to have had multiple variants although I've only seen one drawing for each aircraft. AAF analytical documents typically discuss and compare the pluses and minuses of the variants. So while it is true that the LB-16 was one of a long list of LB proposals, it only "led" to the B-24 in the same sense that all the previous bomber designs and studies of Boeing from the B-15 on led to the B-29.

IIRC, the early proposals only envisioned a crew of six men. I guess that is shown above now that I look at the Inboard Profile. I'm still searching for the mockup report for the LB-16. if anyone knows where I might find a copy please let me know.

AlanG

 

[Stargazer]

From Monografie Lotnicze #86:

• the initial proposal,
• the modified project,
• the final XB-24 configuration.

 

[hesham]

From Le Fana HS57,

here is the Consolidated early Model-32.

 

[windswords]

So the first concept designs of the Liberator had a nose similar to Boeing's later B-29. Great info, thanks!

 

[Stargazer]

That was the LB-16 study, part of the LB- series of bomber studies from which the Liberator stemmed.

It even shows on the plan's drawing number (L.B. 16001)

 

[Antonio]

Dozens of aircraft designs share this cockpit configuration...

 

[windswords]

Dozens of designs but no production aircraft until the B-29. The Germans had the He-111 and He-177. I don't know of an Italian bomber with an all glazed nose, but I'm not familiar enough with them. The Japanese only had designs for some versions of the Fugaku heavy bomber and the G7M bomber proposal with all-glazed noses. I can't remember any other Japanese designs than those off the top of my head.

 

[Stargazer]

All-glazed noses pre-existed in a number of projects. The Abrams Explorer photo aircraft also had one. True, the P-1/P-2 that was built had a different shape, but the planned P-3 was to be rounded off with a circular fuselage.

 

[windswords]

Skyblazer,

Was that an army or navy project? Homely looking airplane.

 

[Arjen]

Civilian.

http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,9601.msg88058.html#msg88058
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abrams_P-1_Explorer

The Abrams P-1 Explorer was American purpose-designed aerial photography and survey aircraft that first flew in November 1937. It was designed by aerial survey pioneer Talbert Abrams to best suit his needs for a stable aircraft with excellent visibility for this kind of work. Abrams was an early aerial photographer, in World War I. He used a Curtiss Jenny post-war, forming ABC airlines. In 1923 Abrams founded Abrams Aerial Survey Company, and in 1937 Abrams Aircraft Corporation to build the specialized P-1 aircraft.

 

[Antonio]

Dozens of designs but no production aircraft until the B-29

...in America. You're right.
Because, as you noted, the He-111 and He-177 were produced in series before the B-29.

I just wanted to show that all-glazed noses weren't a uncommon feature in designs spanning for nearly 20 years.

The De Schelde S.21 was another example of single engined all-glazed nose configuration.
And just for the record, a couple of beautiful examples from France are the Amiot 370-371 twin engined (prototype) and Amiot 380 four engined heavy bomber (project)

 

[windswords]

Civilian.

Thanks. I was restricting my comments to US military aircraft as pometablava noted. I checked out your link to Wikipedia. Interesting aircraft. The article noted it was flown with a variety of cameras but it does not say for whom. I wonder if the they ever contracted with the government for survey work or only with private companies (like Rand McNally).

 

[Sundog]

Civilian.

Thanks. I was restricting my comments to US military aircraft as pometablava noted. I checked out your link to Wikipedia. Interesting aircraft. The article noted it was flown with a variety of cameras but it does not say for whom. I wonder if the they ever contracted with the government for survey work or only with private companies (like Rand McNally).

You can learn all about the history of the Abrams Explorer and it's designer at the PDF link below;

http://www.amerisurv.com/PDF/TheAmericanSurveyor_Penry-TalbertAbrams_December2015.pdf

 

[hesham]

The Consolidated LB-26.

Consolidated LB-26 (Medium Liberator)

Page details technical specifications, development, and operational history of the Consolidated LB-26 (Medium Liberator) including pictures.

www.militaryfactory.com

 

[ACResearcher]

I was intrigued by Hesham's entry above on the Consolidated LB-26, so I went to my files and could find very little to support the "history" and description written up about this aircraft.

Not only were there TWO different variants of the LB-26, neither of them had any indication of the turrets mounted in the artwork or discussed in the "history". Since my files consist of the original proposal for this/these aircraft with details about engines, armament, 3-views, etc., I could not help but wonder about the source of the "information" posted on MilitaryAircraft.com.

Does anyone know how to contact the MilitaryFactory to find out who posted this on the LB-26 and what sources he or she might have used? I could find no link to an email on the site. Perhaps that alone speaks to its veracity.

Many thanks.

AlanG

 

[hesham]

My dear Alan,

I know that,this site had taken many projects from various books,and I
thought you involved in it,but you surprised me yesterday.

Aircraft Manufacturers (Past & Present)

Listing of past and present aircraft, helicopter and drone producers.

www.militaryfactory.com

 

[smurf]

Military Factory e-mail

Does anyone know how to contact the MilitaryFactory to find out who posted this on the LB-26 and what sources he or she might have used? I could find no link to an email on the site. Perhaps that alone speaks to its veracity.


There is an e-mail tucked away in very small print. Perhaps you have found it by now, but others may not.
At least the data is not AI produced!

 

[Apophenia]

FWIW, zoominfo lists Military Factory as:

Federal - China - <25 Employees
Headquarters China
Website www.militaryfactory.com
Revenue <$5 Million
Industry Government

...Military Factory is part of a network of sites that includes GlobalFirepower.

-- https://www.zoominfo.com/c/military-factory/351573031

 

[Stargazer]

I said it in another thread, and I'll say it here once again: I take everything from that website with a very big spoonful of salt! They tend to blend genuine info and invention in such a way that it is often impossible to tell the wheat from the chaff...