xb 39 superfortress??!!

[tom d. friedman]

xb 39 superfortress!!?? 1st i've heard of the experiment. made by fisher body, cleveland ohio with allison liquid cooled engines. any additional feedback??

[Second Air Force]

Tom,

The nacelles and cowlings were constructed at Fisher. In the original manufacturing scheme, Fisher was slated to be one of the prime assembly contractors for the airframe as well, but the program changed and Martin Omaha took on that project.

The airplane itself was a YB-29 that was bailed to GM for the conversion. It makes you wonder if the 3420 wouldn't have turned out (with further development) to be about as reliable as those early 3350s in hindsight.

Scott

[Dan K]

Link to a Bill Larkins pic of Spirit of Lincoln:

http://1000aircraftphotos.com/Contribut ... /2972L.jpg

Impressive. Perhaps if Fifi's current re-engine plan doesn't work out?

[B29Gunner]

An interesting side note is that the original nacelles and cowlings removed from the XB-39 during the conversion were sent to Boeing Field under orders of Gen Wolfe himself, for the B-29 school to use in rebuilding "The Silver Ghost," which was the XB-29 "destroyed" during static testing. No small feat indeed, it was completely rebuilt by the students at the school, long before Warbird restorations were cool

[Steve Nelson]

Was the same powerplant setup eventually installed on the XB-19? I believe she was the first aircraft to have R-3350s, but ended her life with inline engines.

SN

[tom d. friedman]

yes

[Michel Lemieux]

Wow...did not know that about the XB-19.

Nice pic, tks for sharing

[JBoyle]

An interesting side note is that the original nacelles and cowlings removed from the XB-39 during the conversion were sent to Boeing Field under orders of Gen Wolfe himself, for the B-29 school to use in rebuilding "The Silver Ghost," which was the XB-29 "destroyed" during static testing. No small feat indeed, it was completely rebuilt by the students at the school, long before Warbird restorations were cool

The recent issue of FlyPast reports the aircraft was made taxiable and was used by Boeing mech. students.

[The Inspector]

Olympic Air Museum in Olympia, WA. has a W-3420, Cutriss has posted shots of the engine within the past few months.
Henry Kaiser used 3420's to power one of his unlimited hydroplanes U-10 'SCOOTER TOO' in the early to mid 50's. The boat was far fom competative and usually either filled up with the course it was racing on, or came back to the pits on the end of a rope. Around the same time, Jack Schaeffer (Schaeffer bakeries and breads) in Detroit ran several twin engined ALLISON powered boats under the name "SUCH CRUST III, IV, II etc. including running a -111 and -113 nose to nose turning the prop VEE drive between them. GALE ELECTRIC in Detroit ran the GALE VI with 2 ALLISONS and the GALE VII using a PT boat PACKARD V-16, the VII was capable of carving a trough in the Detroit River as it ran-------pretty slowly, it tipped the scales around (a claimed) 8500 Lbs when single engined boats made of plywood ran around 6200 lbs.
go to unlimited hydroplane and raceboat museum .com and click on GALLERY, select 1950's /1970's to see more

[The Inspector]

...and don't start! @ the time, ALLISONS and MERLINS were really really cheap, there were huge piles of them everywhere, and they made big torque and horsepower very cheaply for the rich men who indulge in the sport of unlimited hydroplane racing-now it's T-55's from old retired CH-47's that are really cheap and plentiful for racing

[B29Gunner]

The recent issue of FlyPast reports the aircraft was made taxiable and was used by Boeing mech. students.

It could have flown too as all repairs were airworthy, which is pretty amazing considering the abuse it took during the static tests! I wasnt aware of the FlyPast article, is it available online anywhere?