XB-19 Color Photographs

When the USAAC declassified the XB-19 program the aircraft became a media sensation, and fortunately several color photographs survive.  This view of the aircraft being serviced on the ramp shows the 212 foot (64.7 meter) wingspan to good advantage.

The armed guards are dwarfed by the huge tail assembly.  The vertical fin rose 42 feet (12.8 meters) into the air which prevented the XB-19 from entering many hangers of the time.  A single .50 caliber machine gun was designed to be carried in the tail, with a .30 caliber waist gun fitted on each side of the fuselage.  Had the XB-19 ever entered service as a bomber, it is certain that the defensive armament would have been revised.

Here the XB-19 is being readied for its inaugural flight from Douglas at Santa Monica, CA on 27JUN41.  In the foreground is a 20^th Pursuit Group P-40C, one of six sent from Hamilton Field to escort the giant bomber.

 

 

 

 

Five aerial views taken during the XB-19’s first flight to March Field.  Public and Press interest was overwhelming, with over 45,000 people gathered at the Douglas plant in Santa Monica to witness the take-off.  The escort was tasked with keeping overly curious aircraft at a safe distance during the flight.

 

The XB-19 was an imposing presence on the ramp, few hangers of the day could accommodate an aircraft of its size.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor the aircraft was given a standard USAAC camouflage scheme of Olive Drab over Neutral Gray.  Here one of the Wright 3350 engines is being “pulled through” to distribute lubricating oil before the engine is started.

The XB-19A was stored in the boneyard at Davis-Monthan near Tucson AZ to await preservation at a museum.  Here it is seen in its weather research paint scheme with several B-29s in the background.  The aircraft did not make it to a museum but instead was scrapped by order of the base commander in 1949.