Budd RB Conestoga

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
"RB-1" redirects here. For the aircraft designed by Vincent Burnelli, see Burnelli RB-1.
RB Conestoga
Role Military transport aircraft
National origin United States
Manufacturer Budd Company
First flight 31 October 1943
Introduction 1944
Status Retired
Primary users United States Navy
Flying Tiger Line
Number built 20

The Budd RB-1 Conestoga was a twin-engine,

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
. Although it did not see service in a combat theater, it pioneered design innovations in American cargo aircraft, later incorporated in modern military cargo airlifters.

Design and development

World War II created a great demand for military transport aircraft in the United States. Because of initial fears of a shortage of

U.S. Army Air Forces
(USAAF) followed with an order for 600, designated C-93.

The Conestoga was a twin-engine high-wing

R-1830-92 air cooled 14-cylinder, twin-row, radial engines, the same engines fitted to the C-47, drove three-bladed Hamilton Standard Hydromatic constant-speed, full-feathering propellers
and powered a 24-volt electrical system. While the fuselage was thin-gauge stainless steel, only a portion of the wing was made of the metal; the trailing section of the wing and all control surfaces were fabric-covered.

Innovations

An RB-1 demonstrates its loading ramp

The RB-1/C-93 was radical for its day, introducing many of the features now standard in military transports. The flight deck could accommodate three crew members, pilot and copilot side-by-side, the navigator behind them. Stairs connected the flight deck to the cargo area, which was 25 feet (7.6 m) long with an unobstructed cross-section of 8 × 8 feet (2.4m) throughout its length. Cargo loading and unloading could be accomplished in two ways: through 40 × 60 inch (102 × 152 cm) doors on both sides of the fuselage or by an electrically operated 10 × 8 foot (3.0 × 2.4 m) ramp at the aft end of the cargo area under the upswept tail, a similar development to what had been initially fitted to the Germans' own Ju 90 four-engined transport aircraft as their Trapoklappe ramp in 1939. The RB-1's loading ramp, accessed by manually operated clamshell doors, along with the tricycle landing gear, meant cargo could be loaded/unloaded at truck-bed height. A manually operated two-ton (1814 kg) hoist for unloading trucks and a one-ton winch for pulling cargo up the ramp were also provided in the cargo area. The aircraft could accommodate:

  • 24
    paratroopers
    , or
  • 24 stretchers and 16 sitting wounded, or
  • 9,600 pounds of cargo, or
  • a 1½ ton truck, or
  • The largest ambulance in use by the U.S. military.

Operational history

The prototype first flew from the Budd Red Lion Factory Airfield in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 31 October 1943, piloted by Guy Miller.[1] The prototype had a takeoff run when empty of just 650 feet (200 m), and could carry a maximum payload of 10,400 pounds (4,700 kg) with a takeoff run of 920 feet (280 m).[2] However, the aircraft demonstrated greater than expected fuel consumption; the range with a standard payload was only 700 miles (1,100 km), 650 miles (1,050 km) with a maximum payload.[2] Three prototype aircraft: NX37097, NX41810, and NC45354 were built; one was used for testing radio equipment, while the other two were used for flight test evaluations.[1][3] During testing, a few aircraft had difficulty with the simultaneous deployment of the right and left landing gear. With the same engines as the C-47, but 3,000 pounds (1,400 kg) heavier (empty), the aircraft was relatively underpowered; it was reportedly said[by whom?] that, for an aircraft built by a railroad car company, it indeed handled like one.[citation needed]

At the Budd factory and airfield in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, there were construction delays due to cost overruns and problems with stainless steel fabrication. By late 1943, aluminum production had been increased with the construction of new processing facilities, and other more conventional cargo aircraft (such as the Curtiss C-46 Commando and the Douglas C-47 Skytrain) were being produced in large numbers. This caused the Army to cancel its order for the C-93 and the Navy to reduce its RB-1 order from 200 to 25, of which 17 were delivered in March 1944.

On 13 April 1944, during a

Naval Air Training Command (NATC) evaluation flight of RB-1 prototype U.S. Navy NX37097 at Patuxent River NAS, Maryland, the aircraft crashed, killing one of the crew.[4]
The aircraft was damaged beyond repair and written off, but the pilot reported that the stainless steel construction of the aircraft contributed to saving his life.

Production RB-1 aircraft never entered squadron service with the Navy, but a few were briefly used by

National Skyway Freight Corp[5] for $28,642 each (equivalent to $384,400 in 2023 dollars) at a time when new C-47s were selling for approximately $100,000 each (equivalent to $1.3 million in 2023 dollars). The new company, founded by members of the AVG Flying Tigers immediately sold four RB-1 aircraft to other buyers, which paid for the entire WAA contract.[5]

The seven remaining National Skyways aircraft were used to transport a variety of cargo, shipping fruit and furniture from its base in

better source needed] Pilot and copilot were killed when they were thrown through the windshield and the aircraft skidded over them; the flight engineer survived.[5]

In 1947, the U.S. Army (and later the U.S. Air Force) gave National Skyway Freight a large contract for trans-Pacific freight, for which it leased military aircraft. The company changed its name to

1948 Tucker Sedan to auto shows around the U.S.; it was reportedly later abandoned at an airfield in Oakland, California after repeated mechanical troubles.[5]

Brazil

The V.A.S.D. (Viação Aérea Santos Dumont) was born on January 18, 1944. He started with the purchase of two Catalinas and a Budd Conestoga, both former Rubber development Corporation. Budd RB.1 Conestoga had the PP-SDC "Tio Sam" enrollment. It was damaged in an emergency landing at Campo dos Afonsos on 04.01.1947, landing with one train collected, declared unrecoverable and there scrapped.[citation needed]

Surviving aircraft

RB-1 at the Pima Air Museum

A single unrestored Budd RB-1 is on display at the

Tucson, Arizona.[6]

Specifications (RB-1)

3-view line drawing of the Budd RB-1 Conestoga
3-view line drawing of the Budd RB-1 Conestoga

Data from Jane's fighting aircraft of World War II[7]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 3
  • Capacity: 9,600 lb (4,400 kg) of payload with 390 US gal (320 imp gal; 1,500 L) of fuel
  • Length: 68 ft (21 m)
  • Wingspan: 100 ft (30 m)
  • Height: 31 ft 9 in (9.68 m)
  • Wing area: 1,400 sq ft (130 m2)
  • Empty weight: 20,156 lb (9,143 kg)
  • Gross weight: 33,860 lb (15,359 kg)
  • Fuel capacity: 994 US gal (828 imp gal; 3,760 L) in three wing tanks
  • Powerplant: 2 × Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92 Twin Wasp 14-cylinder air-cooled radial engines, 1,200 hp (890 kW) each
  • Propellers: 3-bladed
    Hamilton Standard Hydromatic
    , 11 ft 7 in (3.53 m) diameter constant-speed fully feathering propellers

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 197 mph (317 km/h, 171 kn) at 7,500 ft (2,300 m)
  • Cruise speed: 165 mph (266 km/h, 143 kn)
  • Stall speed: 78 mph (126 km/h, 68 kn) fully loaded
  • Range: 700 mi (1,100 km, 610 nmi) normal
  • Maximum economical range: 1,620 mi (1,410 nmi; 2,610 km)

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ The company lost one RB-1 on its initial flight at a crash in Fort Worth, Texas; it was sold for $500 and used as a hamburger stand.[5]
  2. ^ The Michigan crash occurred when a National Skyways RB-1 was forced to make a belly landing in a Detroit graveyard. There were no casualties.

Citations

  1. ^
    ISBN 0-8306-4373-7
    .
  2. ^ a b Merriam 2000, p. 45.
  3. ^ Freeman, Paul. "Budd Factory Airfield, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania." airfields-freeman.com. Retrieved: 13 November 2010.
  4. ^ "Report of Aircraft Accident, U.S. Navy NX37097 (Budd RB-1 Conestoga), 13 April 1944." Aviation-Safety.net. Retrieved: 13 November 2010.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g "Flying Tiger History: The 1940s." Archived 2006-10-05 at the Wayback Machine flyingtigerline.org. Retrieved: 13 November 2010.
  6. ^ "CONESTOGA". Pima Air & Space Museum. Archived from the original on 28 September 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
  7. ISBN 0517679647
    .

Bibliography

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Budd RB Conestoga.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Budd_RB_Conestoga&oldid=1213714125"