PB2Y Coronado

Infobox Aircraft
name= PB2Y Coronado


caption= An early PB2Y-2 in flight.
type= Maritime patrol bomber
manufacturer= Consolidated Aircraft
designer=
first flight= 17 December 1937
introduced=
retired=
status=Retired
primary user= United States Navy
more users= Royal Air Force
produced=
number built= 217
unit cost=
developed from=
variants with their own articles=

The PB2Y Coronado was a large flying boat patrol bomber designed by Consolidated Aircraft. As of 2005, one Coronado remains at the Pensacola, Florida National Museum of Naval Aviation.

Development

After deliveries of the PBY Catalina, also a Consolidated aircraft, began in 1935, the United States Navy began planning for the next generation of patrol bombers. Orders for two prototypes, the XPB2Y-1 and the Sikorsky XPBS-1, were placed in 1936; the prototype Coronado first flew in December 1937.cite journal| url=http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1980s/1989/nd89.pdf | journal=Naval Aviation News | title=PB2Y Coronado | pages=22–23 | month=November-December | year=1989 | volume=72 | issue=No. 1 | first=Hal | last=Andrews | id=ISSN|0028-1417]

After trials with the XPB2Y-1 prototype revealed some stability issues, the design was finalized as the PB2Y-2, with a large cantilever wing, twin tail, and four Pratt & Whitney R-1830 radial engines. The two inner engines were fitted with four-bladed reversible pitch propellers; the outer engines had standard three-bladed feathering props.Ref Jane's|The Consolidated Vultee Model 29 Coronado|218-219] (However, note the three-bladed prop on the inner engine in the picture at the left.) Like the PBY Catalina before it, the PB2Y's wingtip floats retracted to reduce drag and increase range.

Development continued throughout the war. The PB2Y-3, featuring self-sealing fuel tanks and additional armor, entered service just after the attack on Pearl Harbor and formed most of the early-war Coronado fleet. The prototype XPB2Y-4 was powered by four Wright R-2600 radials and offered improved performance, but the increases were not enough to justify a full fleet update. However, most PB2Y-3 models were converted to the PB2Y-5 standard, with the R-1830 engines replaced with single-stage R-1830-92 models. As most existing PB2Y-3s were used as transports, flying low to avoid combat, removing the excess weight of unneeded superchargers allowed an increased payload without harming low-altitude performance.

Operational use

Coronados served in combat in the Pacific, in both bombing and anti-submarine roles, but transport and hospital aircraft were the most common. The British Royal Air Force Coastal Command had hoped to use the Coronado as a maritime patrol bomber, as it already used the PBY Catalina. However, the range of the Coronado (1,070 miles) compared poorly with the Catalina (2,520 mi), and the Short Sunderland (1,780 mi). Consequently, the Coronados supplied to the RAF under Lend-Lease were outfitted purely as transports, serving with RAF Transport Command. The aircraft were used for trans-Atlantic flights, staging through the RAF base at Darrell's Island, and Puerto Rico, though the aircraft were used to deliver vital cargo and equipment in a transportation network that stretched down both sides of the Atlantic, from Newfoundland, to Brazil, and to Nigeria, and other parts of Africa.

Coronados served as a major component in the Naval Air Transport Service (NATS) during WW II in the Pacific theater. Most had originally been acquired as combat patrol aircraft, but the limitations noted above quickly relegated them to transport service in the American naval air fleet also. By the end of WW II the plane was outmoded as both a bomber and a transport, and virtually all of them were quickly scrapped, being melted down to aluminum ingots and sold as metal scrap. [Naval Aviation News, September 1946, page 9]

Variants

;XPB2Y-1:Prototype with four 1050hp XR-1830-72 engines, one built.;PB2Y-2:Evalutation variant with four 1020hp R-1830-78 engines, modified hull and six 0.5in guns, six built.;XPB2Y-3:One PB2Y-2 converted as prototype for PB2Y-3.;PB2Y-3:Production variant with four 1200hp R-1830-88 engines and eight 0.5in guns, 210 built.;PB2Y-3B:Lend-lease designation for Royal Air Force aircraft.;PB2Y-3R:PB2Y-3s converted as freighters with faired-over turrets, side loading hatch, and seating for 44 passengers, 31 built.;XPB2Y-4:One PB2Y-2 re-engined with four R-2600 engines.;XPB2Y-5:The XP2BY-3 converted as PB2Y-5 prototype.;PB2Y-5:PB2Y-3s converted with four 1200hp R-1830-92 engines, increased fuel capacity and provision for RATO (rocket assisted take-off) gear.;PB2Y-5R:PB2Y-5s converted as unarmed transports some fitted for medical evacuation role.

Operators

;UK
* Royal Air Force
** No. 231 Squadron RAF;USA
* United States Navy

pecifications (PB2Y-5)

aircraft specifications

plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop

ref=Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II
crew=10
length main=79 ft 3 in
length alt=24.2 m
span main=115 ft 0 in
span alt=35 m
height main=27 ft 6 in
height alt=8.4 m
area main=1,780 ft²
area alt=165 m²
empty weight main=40,850 lb
empty weight alt=18,530 kg
loaded weight main=
loaded weight alt=
max takeoff weight main=66,000 lb
max takeoff weight alt=30,000 kg
engine (prop)=Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92
type of prop=radial engines
number of props=4
power main=1,200 hp
power alt=900 kW
max speed main=194 mph
max speed alt=168 knots, 310 km/h
cruise speed main=170 mph
cruise speed alt=148 knots, 272 km/h
range main=1,070 mi
range alt=930 NM, 1,720 km
range more=at 131 mph (210 km/h)
ceiling main=20,500 ft
ceiling alt=6,250 m
loading main=
loading alt=
power/mass main=
power/mass alt=
guns=
**6× .50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns in three powered turrets
**2× .50 in M2 Browning machine guns in waist mounts
bombs=
** 2× Mark 13 torpedoes "or"
** Up to convert|12000|lb|abbr=on of bombs, housed in the wings

ee also

aircontent
related=
*PBY Catalina
similar aircraft=
*Kawanishi H8K
*PBM Mariner
*PB2M Mars
*Short Sunderland
sequence=
lists=
* List of military aircraft of the United States
* List of aircraft of World War II

see also=

References