Martin XB-33 Super Marauder

{{short description|American bomber project}} {{More footnotes|date=April 2009}}  {{Infobox aircraft | name = XB-33 Super Marauder | image = B33.PNG | caption = Schematic blueprint drawing of the XB-33. | type = Medium bomber | national_origin = United States | manufacturer = Glenn L. Martin Company | designer = | first_flight = | introduction = | retired = | status = Cancelled 25 November 1942 | primary_user = United States Army Air Forces (intended) | more_users = | produced = | number_built = None | unit cost = | developed_from = Martin B-26 Marauder | variants = }}

The '''Martin XB-33 Super Marauder''' was a proposed World War II American bomber aircraft. It was designed by the Glenn L. Martin Company as the '''Martin Model 190''' and was a high-altitude derivative of the company's B-26 Marauder. Two different designs were developed, first as a twin-engined aircraft and then as a four-engined aircraft. The four-engined version was ordered by the United States Army Air Forces, but the program was cancelled before any aircraft were built.

==Design and development==

===XB-33=== The first version of the B-33 design, the '''XB-33''', was a twin-tailed medium bomber with two Wright R-3350 engines and pressurised crew compartments; its design began in 1940. It would carry around 4,000 lb (1,814 kg) of bombs. Soon after design of the XB-33 began it became clear that a twin-engined aircraft would not achieve the performance requested by the army. The company moved on to developing a larger four-engined design, the XB-33A.

===XB-33A=== Following the abandonment of the original twin-engined design, the company continued to design a larger four-engined aircraft, and two prototypes were ordered by the USAAF as the '''XB-33A'''; its bombload was to have been 12,000 lb (5,443 kg), as much as that of the B-24 Liberator, the heaviest US bomber flown in combat prior to the B-29.

The original XB-33 design was to have been powered by the R-3350, the redesigned XB-33A was to have used Wright R-2600 engines. The main reason for this was the demand for R-3350s for the B-29, one of the most highly valued projects of the Army Air Forces.

On January 17, 1942, the USAAF placed an order for 400 B-33As, to be built at the government-owned plant in Omaha, Nebraska, operated by Martin. On November 25, 1942, the project was cancelled to allow the Omaha plant to concentrate on manufacturing B-29s.

==Variants== ;XB-33 :Prototype medium bomber powered by two 1,800 hp (1,343 kW) R-3350 engines, two ordered and cancelled.<ref name="Andrade 1979, p 51">Andrade 1979, p 51</ref> ;XB-33A :Prototype medium bomber powered by four 1,800 hp (1,343 kW) R-2600-15 engines, two ordered and cancelled.<ref name="Andrade 1979, p 51"/> ;B-33A Super Marauder :Production variant of XB-33A, 400 ordered and cancelled.<ref name="Andrade 1979, p 51"/>

==Specifications (B-33A, as designed)==

{{Aircraft specs |prime units?=imp |ref= |crew=seven |length ft=79 |length in=10 |length m=24.3 |span ft=134 |span m=40.8 |height ft=24 |height m=7.32 |wing area sqft=1646 |wing area sqm=153 |empty weight lb=85000 |empty weight kg=39000 |gross weight lb=95000 |gross weight kg=43000  |eng1 name=Wright R-2600-15 |eng1 type=radial engines |eng1 number=4 |eng1 hp=1800  |perfhide= |max speed mph=345 |max speed kts=300 |max speed kmh=555 |cruise speed mph=242 |cruise speed kts=210 |cruise speed kmh=389 |range miles=2000 |range nmi=1700 |range km=3000 |ceiling ft=39000 |ceiling m=12000 |wing loading lb/sqft=58 |wing loading kg/m2=280 |power/mass=0.076 hp/lb (55 W/kg) |guns=8 × .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns |bombs=10,000 lb (4,500 kg) }}

==See also== {{Aircontent |related= * Martin B-26 Marauder |similar= * Avro Lancaster * Boeing B-29 Superfortress * ''Bomber B'' * Consolidated B-32 Dominator * Douglas XB-31 * Junkers Ju 288 * Lockheed XB-30 * Tupolev Tu-4 |lists= * List of military aircraft of the United States * List of bomber aircraft |see also= }}

==References== ===Notes=== {{Reflist}} ===Bibliography=== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20041013093313/http://home.att.net/~jbaugher2/b33.html Encyclopedia of American Aircraft] * {{cite book |last= Andrade |first= John |title= U.S.Military Aircraft Designations and Serials since 1909|year=1979 |publisher=Midland Counties Publications|isbn= 0-904597-22-9}}

Category:1940s United States bomber aircraft B-33 Super Marauder Category:Four-engined piston aircraft Category:Four-engined tractor aircraft Category:Shoulder-wing aircraft Category:Twin-tail aircraft Category:Aircraft with retractable tricycle landing gear Category:Cancelled military aircraft projects of the United States