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Douglas XB-43 Jetmaster

1946 COLD WAR X-PLANE

History of the Douglas XB-43 Jetmaster

The Douglas XB-43 emerged from the XB-42 "Hybrid Master" program - which sought a unique solution for the budget-conscious medium bomber platform to replace the large and expensive Boeing B-29 "Superfortress" - It's the Douglas XB-43 "Jet Master". An advanced jet-powered branch of the original design. Early XB-42s were powered by two Allison in-line engines arranged in "propellers" at the rear of the aircraft, which facilitated increased speed compared to traditional configurations.

This leaves the front/middle fuselage and wings free of mechanical obstacles and creates a more streamlined shape. At one point, the XB-42 was equipped with Westinghouse's axial turbojets, which took it in a completely different direction. Although no design was adopted (two prototypes were completed), it provided the basis for the XB-43, which replaced the Westinghouse engines with a pair of General Electric J35 series engines.

Then came two airworthy XB-43 prototypes.

The XB-43 is more or less an add-on to the XB-42 in development. The airframe proved useful for the study of jet propulsion for medium bombers, so in March 1944 the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) and the Douglas Aircraft Company reached an agreement while World War II (1939-1945) was still going on. The aircraft roughly resembled the XB-42 airframe, but ditched the inline engines of General Electric's turbojets.

Engineers added a pair of air intakes on the sides of the fuselage near the wing roots, and the exhausts take up space where the propeller units used to be in the rear. The aircraft retains its single vertical dorsal fin (the pelvic fin is removed, while the dorsal fin is enlarged), retractable tricycle landing gear, and a two-person cockpit arrangement. The nose is divided into bombardier positions for glaze, bringing the total number of operators to three.

The proposed defensive armament was a 2 x 12.7mm heavy machine gun mounted in a remote-controlled stern turret, but it was never installed. The total bomb load was 8,000 pounds. An attack version (probably named "A-43") was considered, which could have multiple machine guns mounted in the nose, while the bombardier position was omitted and hidden.

In this release, additional weapon support will be added to the underwing missiles.

Due to the limited availability of GE-J35 engines, the XB-43 production was shelved for several years before the aircraft could fly. When the jet was installed, the aircraft suffered damage during ground-running tests, during which one engine exploded. The first flight was finally recorded on May 17, 1946, but by then World War II (1939-1945) had ended and many promising plans had been killed by the massive military retreat that followed. The second prototype (development designation "YB-43") appeared in airworthy form in 1947.

The original J35 turbojet was subsequently upgraded to the J47 family of engines.

The first prototype - s/n 44-61508 - was eventually cannibalized for its useful parts (serving the second) and abandoned as a target. The second prototype - s/n 44-61509 - was in fairly healthy testing until December 1953. At this point, the U.S. Air Force today (renamed the U.S. Army Air Force after World War II) is focused on the development of specialized jet bombers rather than simply improving the propeller-powered form.

This led to the complete cancellation of the XB-43 program - the aircraft was transferred to the National Museum of the United States Air Force (Dayton, Ohio) for safekeeping.

When completed, the XB-43 will have a length of 15.7 meters, a wingspan of 21.7 meters and a height of 7.4 meters. It has a curb weight of 22,900 pounds and a maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) of 40,000 pounds.

Power initially came from 2 General Electric J35-GE-3 turbojets, each with 4,000 pounds of thrust. Top speed is recorded at 507 mph, range is up to 2,500 miles, and service ceiling is close to 38,500 feet (requires a pressurized cab). The rate of climb reaches 2,470 feet per minute.