In support of an official event 

The Museum will be closed Sunday, May 25
In addition, the Fourth Hangar will be closed Saturday, May 24

Access to the Presidential Gallery will be limited from May 15 to June 5
 

Pre-war Super Bombers

Although the Boeing B-17 was to gain greater fame, Boeing also designed and built an even larger four-engine bomber in the mid-1930s, the XB-15. Its design was actually begun before the B-17, but it did not make its first flight until 1937, more than two years after that of the B-17. With a wingspan of 149 feet, almost half again as large as the B-17, the XB-15 was the victim of lag in engine development -- there were simply no engines available which were powerful enough to give it the performance it deserved. Numerous test projects were made with the XB-15, but in 1943 it was relegated to the role of a cargo airplane and redesignated the XC-105. At the end of World War II, it was dismantled in Panama.

Douglas became involved with the super-bomber in 1935 when it began design of an enormous airplane having a 212-foot wingspan and a tricycle landing gear. Designated the XB-19, it made its first flight on June 27, 1941. Like the XB-15, the XB-19 was underpowered, and after numerous test projects were conducted with the plane, it also began carrying cargo. During WWII, its Wright radial engines were replaced by Allison in-line engines of greater power, but by the end of the war, bomber technology had far outdistanced the XB-19, making further development of the plane uneconomical. In 1949 the XB-19 was reduced to scrap metal at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz.

Click here to return to the Four-Engine Bomber Overview.