二次世界大戰資料庫 (WW2DB)

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseThe B-18 Bolo bombers were the response to the United States Army Air Corps' 1934 request for a bomber with greater bomb load and greater range than the then-standard B-10 bombers. Though not the most capable among the contestants, the design's lower price gave it the competitive edge needed to win the contract. The design entered production in Jan 1936 and by 1940 most US Army Air Force bomber squadrons were equipped with B-18 bombers. The first combat action they saw, unwillingly, was the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, where many of them were destroyed on the ground. Later in the war when their capabilities were surpassed by more modern designs, some of them were transferred to other Allied nations such as Canada and Brazil while others were converted for anti-submarine use. During the design's production life, 350 were built.

SPECIFICATIONS

B-18A

Machinery	Two Wright R-1820-53 radial engines rated at 1,000hp each
Crew	6
Span	27.28 m
Length	17.63 m
Height	4.60 m
Wing Area	89.10 m²
Weight, Empty	7,400 kg
Weight, Loaded	10,030 kg
Weight, Maximum	12,600 kg
Speed, Maximum	346 km/h
Rate of Climb	5.20 m/s
Service Ceiling	7,280 m
Range, Normal	1,850 km
Range, Maximum	3,400 km

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