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North American NA-116

1943 WORLD WAR 2 X-PLANE

History of NA-116 in North America

In 1943 (when the United States was fully involved in World War II), North American aeronautical engineers completed a design study for the US Materiel Command's heavy bomber. This led to the NA-116 proposal, which emerged at a stage in which the Boeing B-29 Superfortress heavy bomber was being developed towards flight testing and final service (May 1944).

The NA-116 offered the US Air Force no advantage over the B-29, so the design went down in aviation history.

The proposed aircraft is a large example with a dual-arm configuration, which is rare for a very large bomber type. To this was added a four-engine arrangement (although a twin-engine form was also considered), each fitted with a three-bladed propeller unit driving counter-rotation. A large main aircraft is mounted at shoulder level and operates on a centralized fuselage nacelle structure. The twin outriggers extend beyond the trailing edge of the main aircraft of each wing, terminating in individual rudders connected by a high-mounted common horizontal plane.

To this was added a fairly modern retractable tricycle landing gear, each leg supporting a two-wheel configuration.

Inside were 12 crew members, including two pilots, a navigator (who also served as a bombardier), a radio operator (who also served as a machine gunner), and no less than eight dedicated machine gunners scattered among the Inside the aircraft.

The proposed defensive weapons scheme includes a nose turret, a dorsal turret, and a rear turret at the end of the fuselage nacelle. In addition, there should be back towers in the middle of each tail boom and at the end of each tail boom. The bow gunner managed up to 4.50 caliber heavy machine guns, while 2.50 caliber HMGs were mounted side by side in the dorsal turret. Each dorsal turret is also equipped with 2 x .50 caliber HMGs.

2 x 20mm automatic cannons will be mounted in a trainable bracket at the end of the fuselage. Tailarm bays can each carry 2 x 20mm automatic cannons. All told, that's the equivalent of a 10 x .50 HMG (though maybe 14 ended up being carried) and a 6 x 20mm autocannon.

In addition to standard weapons, there is a bomb depot of up to 34,000 lbs. The bomb bay is integrated into the fuselage nacelles and each tail boom from the ventral side.

According to the drawings, the bomber should have a barrel length of 85.8 feet and a wingspan of 154 feet. Gross weight will be 80,000 to 132,000 pounds. The aircraft had an estimated range of 5,000 miles with a full war load and full fuel tanks.

In terms of performance, the bomber will be powered by four experimental 3,450 hp Pratt & Whitney PW XR-4360-SSG21-5 engines driving counter-rotating propeller blades on each engine nacelle.