World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseAfter reviewing Douglas Aircraft Company's B-18A design, the United States Army Air Corps accepted it with requests for several changes, which finalized as the B-23 designation. The first flight of the B-23 Dragon aircraft took place on 27 Jul 1939, and the first production aircraft was the first American bomber aircraft to be equipped with a tail gunner position. Between Jul 1939 and Sep 1940, 38 aircraft were built. Production ceased as the US Army determined that B-25 Mitchell and B-26 Marauder aircraft were better suited as medium bombers. During the war, these 38 aircraft remained in service, but they did not participate in combat. Instead, they patrolled the west coast of the United States, and later served as transports (as UC-67). After the war, aviator and industrialist Howard Hughes obtained a B-23 Dragon aircraft and converted it into his personal transport; several other executives around world the did likewise.

B-23 Dragon Timeline

SPECIFICATIONS

B-23 Dragon

Machinery	Two Wright R-2600-3 radial engines rated at 1,600hp each
Armament	3x7.62mm machine guns, 1x12.7mm Browning M2 machine gun in tail, 1,800kg of bombs
Crew	6
Span	28.00 m
Length	17.80 m
Height	5.60 m
Wing Area	92.30 m²
Weight, Empty	8,677 kg
Weight, Loaded	12,000 kg
Weight, Maximum	14,700 kg
Speed, Maximum	454 km/h
Rate of Climb	7.60 m/s
Service Ceiling	9,630 m
Range, Normal	2,300 km

Photographs

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