41-2401
Experimental aircraft to test inline Allison liquid cooled engines on a B-17 airframe.
Delivered Douglas (Vega) as XB-38 with Allison V-1710 liquid cooled four-engine product assigned for USAAF to Lockheed-Vega to study four V-1710-89 V-12 liquid-cooled engines to contrast standard air-cooled Wright Cyclones along with other modifications. It first flew 19-May-43, but crash landed Tipton, Cal. 16-Jun-43 due to engine fire and one passenger killed. Salvaged. Never served in the UK
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Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Crashed |
Tipton, CA | 16 June 1943 | While the XB-38 delivered a substantially higher top speed, its service ceiling was lower. After a few flights it had to be grounded due to a problem with engine manifold joints leaking exhaust gases. Following the fixing of this problem, testing continued until the ninth flight on June 16, 1943. During this flight, the third (right inboard) engine caught fire, and the crew was forced to bail out. The XB-38 was destroyed and the project was canceled, in part because the V-1710 engines were needed for other projects such as the Lockheed P-38 Lightning, Bell P-39 Airacobra, Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, North American P-51A Mustang, and Bell P-63 Kingcobra fighters. |
Revisions
Lee Cunningham 1-Jun-2015. Appended Model to title (convention used ofr aircraft that neve served in the UK); added Block Number , manufacturer, Edited Description (wrote out acronyms) converted dates to military-style signification per "The B-17 Flying Fortress Story", Roger A. Freeman with David Osborne.