The Douglas YB-43 (Versatile II) taking off powered by two GE J35 turbojets and having the pilot and co-pilot sitting under separates bubble canopies - 1946

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lavardera@reddit

so two turbojets, but one thrust exhaust?

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Radioactive_Tuber57@reddit

Sure looks like it, but the lighting is poor.

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“The company was poised to roll out as many as 200 B-43s per month in two versions: a bomber equipped with a clear plastic nose for the bombardier, and an attack aircraft without the clear nose and bombing station but carrying 16 forward-firing .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns and 36 5 in (127 mm) rockets.”

Q: How many 50’s you want in this baby? A: Yes.

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meh_69420@reddit

Was Pappy Gunn in charge of procurement at the time?

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The_Duc_Lord@reddit

Oh, Pappy Gunn. Fun anecdote time.

I grew up in Queensland, Australia near the air base where Pappy developed the strafer nose B-25's. We learnt to dive near the wrecks of the ships they used for practise runs. The ships look like they've been cut in half with Beelzebub's chain saw.

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theemptyqueue@reddit

I would like to think that Pappy would've put 2 x 75mm cannons in the nose of this one.

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zoinkability@reddit

All of them

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righthandofdog@reddit

An A2 .50s does 740 rounds/minute. This thing would be putting 3x more bullets downrange than an A-10 and a .50 likely weighs almost as much as those depleted Uranium .30s

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Plump_Apparatus@reddit

This thing would be putting 3x more bullets downrange than an A-10 and a .50 likely weighs almost as much as those depleted Uranium .30s

Eh?

The A2 fires 50 BMG, they're a half-inch around. The GAU-8 Avenger fires 30mm rounds, a little over 1 1/8" in diameter. Depleted Uranium is one of the heaviest stable elements in the universe.

So a single PGU-14/B 30mm DU round, which alloyed with titanium, weight around 14.0 oz/395g just for the projectile.

A 50 BMG M2 AP projectile weighs around 45 gram.

The two do not compare.

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righthandofdog@reddit

Metric vs English (or whatever calibre is). Oops. Still a LOT of bullets headed downrange.

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Plump_Apparatus@reddit

Eh, caliber is the diameter of the projectile in this case. And really, the two do not compare. The GAU-30 was designed to penetrate the top armor of tanks with one of the heaviest elements in the universe. A single GAU-30 also pushed almost 4,000 rounds per minute. It's like comparing a .22LR to a, eh, well, a 50 BMG.

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righthandofdog@reddit

Sure but 16 x 750 rounds = 12,000 vs the 3,800 rounds a minute from the A-10. Still a wall of bullets in the air.

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greenweenievictim@reddit

At least you could go hard at the taco bar preflight and not have to worry about stinking out anyone else.

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Linkz98@reddit

CRM severe.

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Reddit-Frank20@reddit

That is one ugly airplane!

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Deufuss@reddit

Jar-jar?

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HughJorgens@reddit

I read that the double canopies were removed because the intercoms sucked, so the crew would just duck down below the canopy and yell at each other to communicate.

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trimetric@reddit

I'd like to think they can still hold hands on the inside.

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Kotukunui@reddit

I guess they were separated so when they ejected, each one would go out either side of the vertical stabiliser.

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FuturePastNow@reddit

I think they wanted to reduce drag by reducing frontal area of the cockpit. You can see the evolution from this to the fighter-style tandem seating of the B-47 and YB-52. Eventually Curtis LeMay put his foot down and demanded the B-52 be given a normal airliner style cockpit.

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Xeelee1123@reddit (OP)

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_XB-43_Jetmaster

Source: https://www.jalopnik.com/xb-43-jetmaster-the-weird-history-of-americas-first-je-1689351498/

Source: https://historynet.com/bridging-the-gap-to-the-jet-era/

Source: https://x.com/AFmuseum/status/1965771042233971182