Academy AC12618

Martin XB-48 48-pages, 96 b&w photos, 3 color photos, 26 b&w illustrations. In 1944, the Army issued requirements for a jet-propelled medium bomber which eventually spawned four aircraft. These were the North-American B-45 (see Air Force Legends 224), Convair XB-46 (see Air Force Legends 221), Boeing B-47, and the Martin XB-48 the sudject of this book. Specifications were somewhat general and called for an 80,000 to 200,000 lb aircraft with a 45,000 ft ceiling, range of 3,000 miles and a maximum speed of 550 mph. The Martin designwas a three-place, straight wing, six-jet, high wing, all metal medium bomber. The unique landing gear developed by Martin consisted of dual wheel main gear located in tandem with outrigger single type wing gear. This gear arrangement allowed for a huge continuance bomb bay with quick acting doors capable of carrying a 22,000 lb "Grand Slam" bomb. The other unique feature of the airplane was instalation of the six J35 engines. Each engine (three on a wing) had its own squarish nacelle seperated with by-pass ducts framed by a thin airfoil plate across the bottom of the three engines mounted under each wing. Two aircraft were produced and were tested at the Naval air Test Center, NASa�é-Ë�Patuxent River, MD, about 70 miles from Martin's New River plant before being accepted by the Air Force. The XB-48 was not accepted for production, those contracts going to the B-45 and B-47. The second XB-48 finished its life as a landing pilot training plane for future B-47 pilot's.

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Boeing B-29 & B-50 Superfortress 120 pages Having launched the signature bomber for use in the European Theatre, Boeing embarked on a voyage into the unknown. Bringing together numerous untried technologies the Boeing Aircraft Company launched its most significant bomber, the B-29 Superfortress. Although beset by development problems and having suffered the loss of the prototype and its Chief Test Pilot Eddie Allan, the company pushed on to create the first long-range strategic bombers. Once the Pacific Islands had been captured the B-29 Bomb Groups began bombing raids on the Japanese Home Islands. On the other side of the Himalayas further bomb groups launched attacks against targets in Japan. As combat experience grew the focus turned to destroying as much as possible of its production facilities, mainly by firebombing areas known to have these targets. And then the world changed forever. The use of two atom bombs against Hiroshima and Nagasaki had shown the power of the atom. When the Japanese finally surrendered the Cold War arrived to take its place. War in Korea followed, being the swan song for the B-29 while its younger sibling, the B-50, assumed the mantle of Strategic Defence, a position it held until the B-47 Stratojet arrived One of the largest aircraft of World War II, the B-29 remained in service in various roles throughout the 1950s, being retired in the early 1960s after 3,970 had been built. The Royal Air Force flew the B-29 with the service name 'Washington from 1950 to 1954' while the re-engined B-50 Superfortress Lucky Lady II became the first aircraft to fly around the world non-stop, during a 94-hour flight in 1949. The Soviet Union produced 847 Tupolev Tu-4s, an unlicensed reverse-engineered copy of the B-29. This latest in the essential Warpaint series offers a comprehensive look at the famous bomber in all its guises, with history, development, service details, and colour artwork and scale plans by Sam Pearson.

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