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Information About

B-23 Dragon




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

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-67 is being reconverted to B-23 configuration by the USAF Museum.

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.


SPECIFICATIONS (B-23 DRAGON)

  plane Or Copter plane
  jet Or Prop prop
  ref Joe Baugher's Encyclopedia of American aircraft1
  crew Six
  length Main 58 ft 6 in
  length Alt 178 m
  span Main 92 ft
  span Alt 28 m
  height Main 18 ft 6 in
  height Alt 56 m
  area Main 993 ft&sup2
  area Alt 923 m&sup2
  empty Weight Main 19,089 lb
  empty Weight Alt 8,677 kg
  loaded Weight Main 26,500 lb
  loaded Weight Alt 12,045 kg
  max Takeoff Weight Main 32,400 lb
  max Takeoff Weight Alt 14,727 kg
  engine (prop) Wright R-2600 -3
  type Of Prop Radial Engine s
  number Of Props 2
  power Main 1,600 hp
  power Alt 1,194 kW
  max Speed Main 282 mph
  max Speed Alt 245 kt, 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 76 m/s
  loading Main 267 lb/ft&sup2
  loading Alt 130 kg/m&sup2
  power/mass Main 017 hp/lb
  power/mass Alt 200 kW/kg
  guns <br>
  bombs 4,000 lb (1,800 kg)




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REFERENCES AND EXTERNAL LINKS



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