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This is Volume One of The Army Air Forces in World War II, titled Plans and Early Operations, January 1939 to August 1942, edited by Wesley Frank Craven and James Lea Cate. The University of Chicago Press first published it in 1948, and the Office of Air Force History reprinted it in 1983. The front matter explains how the AAF historical program was set up during the war. The index covers Pacific, Atlantic and European operations, and nothing in the text concerns unidentified aerial phenomena.
“The Invaders”15 pages
T H E A R M Y A I R F O R C E S I N W O R L D W A R I 1 It is true that the twin-engine MB-2, a modification of the Martin bomber of war years, had been followed by the Barling experimental triplane NBL- I , which with six engines, a span of I 2 0 feet, and weight of 27,703 pounds (empty) dwarfed all service models of earlier date than the 1930’s.~T h e plane provided a significant indication of an early interest in the big bomber, but it proved a disappointing experi- ment.lB5O n the other hand, the twin-engine Curtiss NBS-4 of 1924 showed marked improvement over the MB-2. Had funds been more liberally provided, there might have been further experimentation with much larger bombers. A newly formed Bombardment Board in the fall of 1926 favored the multi-engine bomber, partly because of its greater safety in comparison with the single-engine plane.1G6That same year, however, the Engineering Division at Dayton emphasized in a study of its own the technical difficulties and the high cost that would be involved in attempts to build and operate planes with more than two engines.lB7Not until the 1930’s would anything comparable in size to the NBL-I be attempted again. Meanwhile, great progress was made with the two-engine bomber. Between the MB-2 of the early twenties and the B-10 of the early thirties the service ceiling was raised from 7,700 to 24,400 feet, the maximum speed from 98 miles per hour to 2 I 3, and the normal bomb load from 1,040 to 2,260 pounds. Fabric and wood had given way to an all-metal construction; the biplane had been displaced by the monoplane; and in the quest for cleaner lines the retractable landing gear had been introduced.lG8If the advances made held for the airman a promise of bigger and better planes to come, it was still true that the B-10, with a range of 600 miles, raised no question of its practical military value. As early as 1928, however, sharp differences had developed between Air Corps officers and the War Department over plans for bomber construction. The airmen argued for the development of two distinct types of bombing planes: ( I ) a plane of high speed, short range, defensive power, and small bomb load for use in day operations, and (2) a bomber of minimum defensive strength designed to carry heavy bomb loads over longer distances in night operations.lG9A step toward such a specialization of function had been taken when two years earlier the LB-I became the first Army plane to bear the designation * For purposes of comparison it may be noted that the MB-z had a span of 74 feet, z inches, and weight of 7,069 pounds. 58
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