B-23 Dragon

Infobox Aircraft
name= B-23 Dragon


caption= A B-23 Dragon at an unknown airfield during the 1940s
type= Medium bomber
manufacturer= Douglas Aircraft Company
designer=
first flight= 27 July 1939
introduced=
retired=
status=
primary user= United States Army Air Force
more users=
produced=
number built= 38
unit cost=
variants with their own articles=

The Douglas B-23 Dragon was a twin-engined bomber developed by Douglas Aircraft Company as a successor to (and a refinement of) the B-18 Bolo.

Design and development

The design of the B-23 was very similar to that of the Douglas DC-3. It was the first operational US bomber equipped with a glazed tail gun position. It first flew on July 27, 1939.

Operational history

While significantly faster and better armed than the B-18, the B-23 found itself inferior to newer bombers like the B-25 Mitchell and B-26 Marauder. For this reason, the 38 B-23s built were never used in combat. They worked in training, reconnaissance, transport (as the UC-67), and test-bed roles. One of the UC-67s is being restored to B-23 configuration by the National Museum of the United States Air Force.

The B-23's tall vertical tail was adapted by Ford for use on the B-24 Liberator and resulted in increased performance, but it was never adopted for production. The modification later became standard on the Navy's PB4Y Privateer, which was heavily derived from the Liberator.

After World War II, Howard Hughes converted a B-23 for use as his personal transportation.

Operators

;flag|United States|1912
* United States Army Air Force

pecifications (B-23 Dragon)

aircraft specifications
plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop
ref=Joe Baugher's Encyclopedia of American aircraft [cite web|author=Baugher, Joe|title=B-23 "Dragon"|work=2000|url=http://home.att.net/~jbaugher2/b23.html|accessdate=2005-01-03]

crew=6
length main=58 ft 6 in
length alt=17.8 m
span main=92 ft
span alt=28 m
height main=18 ft 6 in
height alt=5.6 m
area main=993 ft²
area alt=92.3 m²
empty weight main=19,089 lb
empty weight alt=8,677 kg
loaded weight main=26,500 lb
loaded weight alt=12,000 kg
max takeoff weight main=32,400 lb
max takeoff weight alt=14,700 kg
engine (prop)=Wright R-2600-3
type of prop=radial engines
number of props=2
power main=1,600 hp
power alt=1,194 kW
max speed main=282 mph
max speed alt=245 knots, 454 km/h
range main=1,400 mi
range alt=1,200 nm, 2,300 km
range more=with 4,000 lb (1,800 kg) of bombs
ceiling main=31,600 ft
ceiling alt=9,630 m
climb rate main=1,493 ft/min
climb rate alt=7.6 m/s
loading main=26.7 lb/ft²
loading alt=130 kg/m²
power/mass main=0.17 hp/lb
power/mass alt=200 kW/kg
guns=
** 3× 0.30 in (7.62 mm) machine guns
** 1× 0.50 in (12.7 mm) machine gun in tail turret
bombs=4,000 lb (1,800 kg)

ee also

aircontent
related=
* Douglas DC-3
* B-18 Bolo
similar aircraft=
* Douglas XB-22
* B-25 Mitchell
* B-26 Marauder
list=
* List of bomber aircraft
* List of military aircraft of the United States
see also=

References

External links

* [http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=2460 "B-23" entry at the "National Museum of the USAF" website]