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Aviation History
1952
1952 - 0892.PDF
A 22,000 lb bomb on a Boeing loading cradle, operated by a petrol engine. dual-compressor, by-pass, or ducted-fan jet units or highly developed turboprops. Further ahead still even stranger shapes— determined by the necessity for protecting their crews against the radiation of their atomic power plants—may be visualized. But atomic power, with its promise of ultra-long ranges, is still a dream and concerning it little of a factual nature can be said at present, except to record that late last year the Atomic Energy Commission and the U.S.A.F. jointly stated that "complex problems remained to be solved before such a power plant could be made, installed and flown," adding that a contract had been awarded to General Elec tric for the ultimate manufacture of a nuclear reactor engine. Subsequently it was announced that a second contract had been put out—to the Pratt and Whitney Division of the United Aircraft Corporation—and it was further divulged that this particular unit differed from that on which General Electric were working. Later still it was learned that Convair had been awarded a contract to build an atomic-powered bomber. It now remains to consider the twin-jet machines, generally classed as "tactical" bombers and intended to take over from such ageing piston-engined types as the de Havilland Mosquito and Bristol Brigand (Great Britain), North American B-25 Mitchell and Douglas B-26 Invader (U.S.A.), and Pe-2 and Tu-2 (Russia). The sole British example is the English Electric Canberra, with Rolls-Royce Avons as the standard power plant for R.A.F. service, though alternatively fitted with Armstrong Siddeley Sapphires. An American contemporary has quoted the weight of the Canberra as 46,000 lb and the speed as 550 m.p.h. but, apart from the demonstrated performances mentioned earlier, no official evidence has been forthcoming. Two bomber marks, the B.2 and B.5, are in R.A.F. service, and both have nose panels for visual aiming, that of the B.5 (believed to be a target-indicating variant) being the larger in area. The Canberra can, however, bomb through cloud by means of radar aids. A crew of three—pilot, navigator-plotter, and observer—mans the B.2. To a large extent the two last-named men are interchangeable, though it is usually the navigator-plotter who navigates the machine to the target with radar aids, and the observer who, before the run-in, takes up his position to aim the bombs. There is no signaller and no W/T, the only radio being the pilot's V.H.F./R.T. The Martin-built U.S.A.F. version of the Canberra, designated B-57A, will be powered with Curtiss-Wright J-65-W-1 turbojets (Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire) and, as already intimated under the heading "Ground Attack," will have a heavy fixed-gun armament in addition to its bomb load. It is known that the bomb bay has been redesigned to accommodate a larger number of small bombs and that special electronic equipment will be installed. Testing one of the twin 20-mm gun installations of a Convair 8-36 bomber. The guns are aimed from sighting blisters some distance away. The crew will consist of pilot and navigator/bomb-aimer, and a tail parachute will be embodied for use on small and slippery runways. It has been estimated that structural changes and increased tankage will increase the weight by about 15 per cent, but that performance will not be prejudiced because of the higher thrust of the Sapphires compared with that of the original Avons. It is likely that the B-57A will be supplemented by Douglas B-66s, developed from the U.S. Navy's A3D, which is later described. Fastest of the American bombers is the Martin XB-51, with three General Electric J-47 turbojets: Intended primarily for army-support work, and having fixed-gun armament, the first XB-51 made its maiden flight in October, 1949, and a second ha? since been completed. Tests are still under way but at the time of going to press there is no intimation of a production order. The Russian Air Force has for many months been operating squadrons of a new type of twin-jet bomber comparable with the Canberra and known provisionally as the "Type 27." Of Ilyushin design, this machine is powered by two Rolls-Royce Nene-type turbojets underslung from the high-aspect-ratio wing. As on the B-47, tail guns are installed and there are reports of fixed, forward- firing guns in addition to bombs and or rocket projectiles. A second bomber of similar class is identified as Type 35, but of this machine little is positively known. Finally, in deference to the U.S.A.F.'s wish that it should be considered a pilotless bomber rather than a guided missile (hence its official designation B-61), we must mention the Martin Matador which, in the view of Aviation Week, could be an operational missile in a brief period of time, following "shake-down" tests now under way. A British development along similar lines is mentioned by our contemporary. A turbojet-powered Martin 6-61 Matador pilotless bomber of the U.S.A.F. leaves its launching ramp with the assistance of auxiliary rockets.
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