B-23 Dragon

A B-23 Dragon on the airfield.

The Douglas B-23 Dragon was a twin-engined bomber developed by Douglas Aircraft Company as a successor to (and a refinement of) the B-18 Bolo. The design of the B-23 was very similar to that of the Douglas DC-3. It was the first operational bomber equipped with a tail gun. It first flew on July 27, 1939.

While significantly faster and better armed than the B-18, the B-23 found itself inferior to newer bombers like the B-25 Mitchell and B-26 Marauder. For this reason, the 38 B-23s built were never used in combat. They worked in training, reconnaissance, transport (as the UC-67), and test-bed roles. One of the UC-67 is being reconverted to B-23 configuration by the USAF Museum.

The B-23's tall vertical tail was adapted by Ford for use on the B-24 Liberator and resulted in increased performance, but it was never adopted for production. The modification later became standard on the Navy's PB4Y Privateer, which was heavily derived from the Liberator.

Specifications (B-23 Dragon)

Data from Joe Baugher's Encyclopedia of American aircraft^[1]

General characteristics

Crew: Six
Length: 58 ft 6 in (17.8 m)
Wingspan: 92 ft (28 m)
Height: 18 ft 6 in (5.6 m)
Wing area: 993 ft² (92.3 m²)
Empty weight: 19,089 lb (8,677 kg)
Loaded weight: 26,500 lb (12,045 kg)
Maximum Take-Off Weight: 32,400 lb (14,727 kg)
Powerplant: 2× Wright R-2600-3 radial engines, 1,600 hp (1,194 kW) each

Performance

Maximum speed: 282 mph (245 kt, 454 km/h)
Range: 1,400 mi (1,200 nm, 2,300 km) with 4,000 lb (1,800 kg) of bombs
Service ceiling: 31,600 ft (9,630 m)
Rate of climb: 1,493 ft/min (7.6 m/s)
Wing loading: 26.7 lb/ft² (130 kg/m²)
Power: 0.17 hp/lb (200 kW/kg)

Armament

Guns:

3× 0.30 in (7.62 mm) machine guns
1× 0.50 in (12.7 mm) machine gun in tail turret

Bombs: 4,000 lb (1,800 kg)

Notes

^ Baugher, Joe. B-23 "Dragon". 2000. URL accessed on 05-01-03.

References and external links

USAF Museum description of B-23

B-23 Dragon