Boeing XB-15
By the mid-1930s the US Army Air Corps (USAAC) saw the need for a new type of long-range bomber. The procurement of the Boeing B-9 and the Martin B-10 and B-12 series had filled an […]
Aircraft
Consolidated PB2Y Coronado
With the first versions of the PBY Catalina beginning to be supplied to the Navy in 1935, attention turned to potential successor machines with better performance. Both Sikorsky and Consolidated were solicited for proposals, and […]
Sikorsky XPBS
As the US Navy was beginning to receive the first prototypes of the aircraft that would become the PBY Catalina, it simultaneously began to solicit proposals for the eventual replacement of this flying boat. The […]
Nakajima A6M2-N Type 2 “Rufe”
During the China Incident the Japanese Navy had made extensive use of floatplanes to augment their land-based units. The Japanese faced a lack of suitable airfields around the coastal cities that were conquered between 1937 […]
Yokosuka D4Y Type 2 Suisei “Judy”
In 1938 Japan acquired one of the prototype Heinkel He 118 dive bombers that the Luftwaffe had rejected in favour of the Junkers Ju 87. Although this aircraft crashed during trials, its overall performance had […]
Vought SB2U Vindicator
In 1934 the US Navy invited bids for a new carrier-based scout bomber, and received no less than six competing designs. Four of these would be ordered into production – Curtiss’ upgraded SBC-3 biplane, the […]
Vickers Wellington
In 1932 the RAF issued a specification for a new twin-engine day bomber, which was to have greater performance than any existing aircraft. Vickers-Armstrong, Handley Page and Armstrong Whitworth were invited to submit proposals, all […]
Bristol Beaufort
The Bristol Beaufort origination from a 1935 request by the RAF for a twin-engine light reconnaissance and torpedo-bombing aircraft. Two competing designs, the Beaufort and the Blackburn Botha, were both ordered into production before a […]
Martin Maryland
In 1938 the US Army Air Corps issued the specifications for a new light bomber, and the subsequent design competition eventually produced 3 production bombers – the Douglas A-20, North American B-25, and the Martin […]
Boeing 314 Clipper
Pan Am approached several companies with a request for a large flying boat to augment their existing fleet of Sikorsky S-42s and Martin M-130s. The requirements specified an aircraft with enormous range, but still capable […]