XB-48
Role	Bomber
Manufacturer	Glenn L. Martin Company
First flight	22 June 1947
Status	Cancelled in 1948
Number built	2
Unit cost	US$11.5 million for the program[1]

Martin XB-48 prototype taxiing, showing spaces between engines for cooling, tandem main gear, & nacelle outriggers.

The Martin XB-48 was a medium jet bomber developed in the mid-1940s. It never saw production or active duty, and only two prototypes, serial numbers 45-59585 and 45-59586,^[2] were built.

Design and development [edit]

In 1944, the U.S. War Department was aware of aviation advances in Germany and issued a requirement for a range of designs for medium bombers weighing from 80,000 lb (36,287 kg) to more than 200,000 lb (90,718 kg). Other designs resulting from this competition, sometimes named the class of '45, included the North American XB-45 and the Convair XB-46. Production orders finally went to the B-45 Tornado and even this airplane only served for a couple of years before again being replaced by the much more modern Boeing B-47 Stratojet although the B-45 had enough "utility" built in to maintain a niche as reconnaissance aircraft.

In retrospect, the class of '45 were transitional aircraft combining the power of turbojets with the aeronautical knowledge of World War II. The XB-48 was no exception, as its round fuselage and unswept wings show a distinct influence of the Martin B-26 medium bomber. Still, where the B-26 had enough thrust with two massive 18-cylinder radial engines, the XB-48 needed no less than six of the new jet engines.

Although the pictures make it look like the aircraft has three engine gondolas under each wing, the jet engines were actually clustered in a pair of flat three-engined gondolas with an intricate system of air canals between the engines providing cooling. At the time of the XB-48's design, jet propulsion was clearly still in its infancy.

The XB-48 was the first aircraft designed with bicycle type landing gear, which had previously been tested on a modified B-26. The wing airfoil was too thin to house conventional landing gear mechanisms.^[3] The main landing gear was in the fuselage and small outriggers located on each wing were used to balance the aircraft.

Operational history [edit]

The XB-48 made its first flight on 22 June 1947, a 37-minute, 73 mi (117 km) hop from Martin's Baltimore, Maryland plant to NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, but blew all four tires on its fore-and-aft mounted undercarriage on landing when pilot Pat Tibbs applied heavy pressure to the specially-designed, but very slow to respond, insensitive air-braking lever. Tibbs and co-pilot Dutch Gelvin were uninjured.^[4]

Video [edit]

• Film footage of the Martin XB-48

Specifications (XB-48) [edit]

Data from "Encyclopedia of US Air Force Aircraft and Missile Systems, Volume II"^[5]

General characteristics

• Crew: 3 (pilot, co-pilot, and bomber-navigator)
• Length: 85 ft 9 in (26 m)
• Wingspan: 108 ft 4 in (33 m)
• Height: 26 ft 6 in (8 m)
• Wing area: 1,330 ft² (123.5 m²)
• Empty weight: 58,500 lb (26,535 kg)
• Loaded weight: 92,600 lb (42,000 kg)
• Max. takeoff weight: 102,600 lb (46,540 kg)
• Powerplant: 6 × General Electric J35 axial flow gas-turbine, 3,820 lbf (17 kN) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 454 kn (523 mph, 841 km/h) at 35,000 ft
• Cruise speed: 361 kn (415 mph, 668 km/h)
• Range: 1,566 nmi (1,802 mi, 2,900 km)
• Combat radius: 795 mi (1,280 km)
• Service ceiling: 39,400 ft (12,009 m)
• Rate of climb: 4,200 ft/min (21.3 m/s)

Armament

• Guns: 2 × .50 in (12.7 mm) M7 machine guns in tail turret (proposed)^[3]
• Bombs: 1 × 20,000 lb (9,980 kg) or 36 × 250 lb (113 kg)

See also [edit]

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

• Boeing B-47 Stratojet
• Convair XB-46
• English Electric Canberra
• Ilyushin Il-22
• Ilyushin Il-28
• North American B-45 Tornado

Related lists

• List of bomber aircraft
• List of military aircraft of the United States

References [edit]

Notes

Bibliography

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Martin XB-48

• Encyclopedia of US Air Force Aircraft and Missile Systems, Volume II
• National Museum of the Air Force
• GlobalSecurity.org