The Consolidated B-32 Dominator was developed for the same Hemispheric Defense Weapon to which the B-29 was designed for, built in the event that the Superfortress prove unsuccessful. As such, the B-32 featured many of the same innovations as its counterpart such as a pressurized cabin and remote-controlled turrets and superficially resembled the company's earlier B-24 with a high wing and the large tail found on later versions of the Liberator. Unfortunately, operational problems required the plane to fly unpressurized and the remote controlled turrets were replaced by manual gunners. Added to the eventually success of the B-29 in the Pacific, the B-32 was only fielded in limited numbers by two squadrons at the very last months of the war flying only two combat missions and whose only notable distinction was being the last Allied aircraft to engage the enemy during World War II.
First flight of the XB-32 took place on 7 September 1942 after being ordered almost exactly two years earlier (barely one month after the B-29). The aircraft entered service simply as the B-32 with no additional variants built and with over 1,500 examples cancelled at the end of the war.
Preceded by:
B-24 Liberator (1941)Succeeded by:
B-36 Peacemaker (1948)Design | B-32 |
Name | Dominator |
Type | Heavy Bomber |
Year | 1944 |
Crew | 10 |
Dimensions | |
Length | 25.32 m |
Height | 9.982 m |
Wing Span | 41.15 m |
Wing Area | n/a |
Weight | |
Empty | 27,339 kg |
Maximum | 54,432 kg |
Wing Loading | 406.3 kg/m² |
Performance | |
Speed | 587 km/h |
Ceiling | 10,668 m |
Range | 1,287-6,115 km |
Powerplant | |
Engine | 4 x R-3350-23 Wright 1,715 kW |
Thrust/Weight | 0.31 |
Armament | |
Guns | 10 x .50-inM2 Browning |
Payload | 9,072 kg |
Production | |
Built | 112 |
Total | 115 |