XB-41 Liberator

__NOTOC__infobox Aircraft
name =XB-41 Liberator
type =Escort bomber
manufacturer =Consolidated Aircraft



caption =
designer =
first flight =
introduced =1942
retired =
status =Cancelled in 1943
primary user =
more users =
produced =
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variants with their own articles =The Consolidated XB-41 Liberator was a single Consolidated B-24D Liberator bomber, serial 41-11822, which was modified for the long-range escort role for U.S. Eighth Air Force bombing missions over Europe during World War II. Outfitted with fourteen .50 caliber defensive machine guns paired in two upper turrets, nose, tail and ventral turrets plus a pair at each waist window, the XB-41 carried 11,000 rounds of ammunition, stored in the bomb bay. It was powered by four 1,250 h.p. Pratt & Whitney R-1830-43 Twin Wasp radial engines. It received limited testing but stability problems, coupled with the unsatisfactory performance of similarly-converted YB-40 gunships derived from the B-17 Flying Fortress in actual operations, led to no further conversions of the Liberator as gunships. The XB-41 was never flown operationally.

pecifications (XB-41)

aircraft specifications
plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop
crew=nine
length main=66 ft 4 in
length alt=20.22 m
span main=110 ft 0 in
span alt=33.54 m
height main=17 ft 11 in
height alt=5.46 m
area main= ft²
area alt= m²
empty weight main= lb
empty weight alt= kg
loaded weight main= lb
loaded weight alt= kg
max takeoff weight main=63,000 lb
max takeoff weight alt=28,576 kg

engine (prop)=Pratt & Whitney R-1830-43
type of prop=radial engines
number of props=4
power main=1,250 hp
power alt=934 kW

max speed main=289 mph
max speed alt=465 km/h
range main=3,100 mi
range alt=4,989 km
ceiling main=28,500 ft
ceiling alt=8,689 m
climb rate main=ft/min
climb rate alt= m/s
loading main=lb/ft²
loading alt= kg/m²
power/mass main= hp/lb
power/mass alt= kW/kg

guns=14× .50 in (12.7 mm) Browning M2 machine guns

References and external links

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ee also

aircontent

related=
* B-24 Liberator
* YB-40 Flying Fortress

sequence=
* XB-38 - XB-39 - YB-40 - XB-41 - XB-42 - XB-43 - XB-44

lists=
* List of bomber aircraft
* List of military aircraft of the United States

see also=