PB4Y-2 Privateer

Infobox Aircraft
name= PB4Y/P4Y Privateer
type=Maritime patrol bomber
manufacturer=Consolidated Aircraft


caption=U.S. Navy PB4Y-2 in flight.
designer=
first flight=
introduced=1943
retired=1954, U.S. Navy 1958, U.S. Coast Guard
status=
primary user=United States Navy
more users=United States Coast Guard
produced=
number built=739
unit cost=
developed from=B-24 Liberator
variants with their own articles=The Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer was a World War II United States Navy patrol bomber derived from the Consolidated B-24 Liberator. The Navy had been using unmodified B-24s as the PB4Y-1 Liberator, and the type was considered very successful. However, a fully navalized design was desired, and Consolidated developed a dedicated long-range patrol bomber in 1943, designated PB4Y-2 Privateer.cite web | url=http://home.att.net/~jbaugher2/b24_38.html | title=Convair PB4Y-2 Privateer | work= [http://home.att.net/~jbaugher/uscombataircraft.html American Military Aircraft] | accessdate=2006-03-24 ] In 1951 the family was redesignated P4Y-2 Privateer.

History

The Privateer was externally similar to the Liberator, but the fuselage was longer to accommodate a flight engineer's station, and had a tall single vertical stabilizer rather than the B-24's twin tail configuration. The defensive armament was also increased to twelve .50 in. (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns in six turrets (two dorsal, two waist, nose and tail), with the B-24's belly turret being omitted. Turbosuperchargers were not fitted to the engines since maritime patrol missions were not usually flown at high altitude.

The Ford Motor Company (which produced B-24s for the U.S. Army Air Corps) had earlier built an experimental variant (B-24K) using the single tail of a B-23 Dragon.cite web | url=http://home.att.net/~jbaugher2/b24_23.html | title=Consolidated B-24N Liberator | work= [http://home.att.net/~jbaugher/uscombataircraft.html American Military Aircraft] | accessdate=2006-03-24 ] Aircraft handling was improved, and the Air Corps' proposed B-24N production model was to be built by Ford; however, the order was canceled on May 31, 1945 and the B-24N never entered production. The Navy's desire for substantial redesigns, however, had sustained interest in the new tail assembly.

The Navy eventually took delivery of 739 Privateers, the majority after the end of the war, although several squadrons saw service in the Pacific theater in the reconnaissance, search and rescue, electronic countermeasures, communication relay and anti-shipping roles (the latter with the "Bat" guided bomb.)

Privateers were also used during the Korean War to fly "Firefly" night illumination missions dropping parachute flares to detect North Korean and Chinese seaborne infiltrators.

All Navy PB4Y-2s were retired by 1954, though unarmed PB4Y-2G Privateers served until 1958 with the Coast Guard before being auctioned off for salvage.

Although the family was redesignated P4Y-2 Privateer in 1951, the earlier XP4Y-1 Corregidor was a completely different design, based on the Consolidated Model 31 twin-engine flying boat.

PB4Y-2 were still being used as drones in the 1950s/early 1960s, designated PB4Y-2K initially and then P4Y-2 based names after 1951. They were then redesignated QP-4B under the 1962 United States Tri-Service aircraft designation system, part of the new patrol series, between the P-2 Neptune and the P-3 Orion.

Privateers in aerial firefighting

A limited number of refitted PB4Ys continued in civilian service as airtankers, dropping fire retardant on forest fires throughout the Western United States. On July 18 2002, one such refitted PB4Y, BuNo 66260 (seen in picture to right) operated by Hawkins and Powers Aviation of Wyoming, broke up in flight while fighting a wildfire near Rocky Mountain National Park. Both crew members were killed in the accident, and the Federal Aviation Administration temporarily grounded all large air tankers in the region.cite web | url=http://www.firehouse.com/lodd/2002/co_jul19.html | title="Two Die in Crash Fighting Colorado Wildfire" | work= [http://www.firehouse.com/index.html Firehouse.com] | accessdate=2006-04-23 ] Following the accident, all remaining Privateers were retired. (See 2002 airtanker crashes.)

Operators

*flag|Canada|1921
*ROC
*FRA
*HON
*flag|United States|1912
**United States Navy
**United States Coast Guard

urvivors

Several airframes exist in flyable condition as well as in museum collections worldwide.

pecifications (PB4Y-2)

aircraft specifications
plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop
ref=Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II [Ref Jane's|The Consolidated Vultee Privateer|217–218]
crew=11: two pilots, navigator, bombardier, five gunners, two radio operators
length main=74 ft 7 in
length alt=22.73 m
span main=110 ft 0 in
span alt=33.53 m
height main=30 ft 1 in
height alt=9.17 m
area main=1,048 ft²
area alt=97.4 m²
empty weight main=27,485 lb
empty weight alt=12,467 kg
loaded weight main=
loaded weight alt=
max takeoff weight main=65,000 lb
max takeoff weight alt=29,500 kg
more general=
engine (prop)=Pratt & Whitney R-1830-94
type of prop=radial engines
number of props=4
power main=1,350 hp
power alt=1,010 kW
max speed main=206 knots
max speed alt=237 mph, 382 km/h
cruise speed main=121 knots
cruise speed alt=175 mph, 224 km/h
range main=2,450 nm
range alt=2,820 mi, 4,540 km
ceiling main=21,000 ft
ceiling alt=6,400 m
climb rate main=
climb rate alt=
loading main=62 lb/ft²
loading alt=300 kg/m²
power/mass main=
power/mass alt=
more performance=
guns=12 × .50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns in six turrets
bombs=Up to 12,800 lb (5,800 kg) of bombs, mines, or torpedoes

ee also

aircontent
related=
*B-24 Liberator
*Consolidated R2Y
*B-32 Dominator
similar aircraft=
*Focke-Wulf Fw 200
*Vickers Warwick
*Avro Shackleton
lists=
*List of military aircraft of the United States
see also=

References

External links

* [http://aeroweb.brooklyn.cuny.edu/specs/consolid/pb4y-2.htm Aeroweb specs]
* [http://www.warbirdalley.com/pb4y2.htm Warbird Alley]
* [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/pb4y-2.htm Globalsecurity.org]
* [http://www.aero-web.org/locator/manufact/consolid/pb4y.htm Aeroweb's PB4Y Location List]
* [http://www.aero-web.org/database/museums/gallery.htm?airmast=pb4y%20con Aeroweb's PB4Y at Lone Star Flight Museum] Lone Star Flight Museum