B-29 Superfortress in Action

As early as 1934 the U.S. Army had envisioned an aircraft that was capable of carrying a 2.000 pound payload, with a range in excess of 5300 miles, which was far beyond current technology! However, by 1940 the Army issued design requirements that had evolved into specifications that called for a 'super bomber' — capable of a 400+ mph top speed, a 2,000 pound payload. and a range in excess of 5300 miles! All this in 1940, when the small, nimble fighters could not top 400 mph; and long range bombers barely had ranges of 2500 miles. What manufacturer could possibly hope to meet these requirements? Four tried, two succeed­ed. Boeing. Consolidated. Douglas, and Lockheed all put forth design proposals based on these requirements. Lockheed's XB-30 (Model 51-81-01) was based on an armed version of what would eventually become the very successful Constellation airliner. However, as a 'super bomber' the Lockheed design never went beyond the proposal stage, although a scale model was built. Neither did the Douglas XB-31 (Model 332F). The Boeing offering, the XB-29 (Model 341) was accepted and went into production. The Consolidated XB-32 (Model 33) ultimately went into limited production (116 built) as the B-32 Dominator. But Army Air Force wanted the Consolidated R-T2 onlv as a hackun in case the Boeine B-29 nroeram failed.

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