Army Air Forces dropped the "O-" category used to designate "observation" (reconnaissance) aircraft. The main differences between the Ventura and the O-56 were in the engines: rather than the 2,000 hp (1,491 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-2800 radials of the Ventura, the O-56 used 1,700 hp (1,270 kW) Wright R-2600-13 radials.īefore completion of the first O-56, the U.S. This aircraft was originally planned to be built under the designation O-56.
Among the orders were for 550 armed reconnaissance versions of the Ventura. In August 1941, large orders for Venturas were placed with Lend-Lease Act money. The RAF placed an order for 487 Ventura Mark IIs but many of these were diverted to the USAAF, which placed its own order for 200 Ventura Mark IIA as the B-34 Lexington, later renamed RB-34. The Venturas were transferred to patrol duties with Coastal Command as the Mosquito replaced them in bomber squadrons 30 went to the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and some to the South African Air Force (SAAF). Venturas were replaced by the faster de Havilland Mosquito. Venturas were initially used for daylight raids on occupied Europe but, like some other RAF bombers, they proved too vulnerable without fighter escort, which was difficult to provide for long-range missions. The RAF ordered 188 Venturas in February 1940, which were delivered from mid-1942. The primary difference was not in layout rather, the Ventura was larger, heavier, and used more powerful engines than the Hudson. The Ventura was very similar to its predecessor, the Lockheed Hudson. Lockheed needed more production capacity and nearby Vega Aircraft Corporation was contracted for building the Ventura. This was followed by an order for 300 Model 37 with Double Wasp engines, then for a further 375 later in 1940. The first British order was placed in February 1940 for 25 Model 32 as bombers. Used in daylight attacks against occupied Europe, they proved to have weaknesses and were removed from bomber duty and some used for patrols by Coastal Command.Īfter USAAF monopolization of land-based bombers was removed, the US Navy ordered a revised design which entered service as the PV-2 Harpoon for anti-submarine work.ĭevelopment Lockheed Ventura/B-34 Lexington An RAF Ventura Mk 1Īt the start of the war, Lockheed proposed military conversions of the Lodestar for the RAF as replacement for the Hudson reconnaissance aircraft and the Bristol Blenheim bomber.
The Ventura was developed from the Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar transport, as a replacement for the Lockheed Hudson bombers then in service with the Royal Air Force. British Commonwealth forces also used it in several guises, including antishipping and antisubmarine search and attack. The bomber was also used by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), which designated it the Lockheed B-34 ( Lexington) and B-37 as a trainer.
Designated PV-1 by the United States Navy (US Navy), it entered combat in 1943 in the Pacific. The Ventura first entered combat in Europe as a bomber with the RAF in late 1942. The Lockheed Ventura is a twin-engine medium bomber and patrol bomber of World War II.
0 kommentar(er)
