PV Ventura

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In February 1940, the British Purchase Mission in the US proposed to Lockheed Aircraft Corporation to develop a new patrol aircraft for Coastal Command coastal defense aviation based on the Model 18 Lodestar, ordering 25 aircraft immediately. The company had extensive experience with this kind of modernization. In 1938, a Hudson patrol aircraft was developed based on the Super Electra passenger plane, subsequently built in large numbers and widely used during World War II. So work began on the design of a new aircraft designated Model 39.A little trouble was caused by the English demand for maximum unification of the Model 39 with the Hudson aircraft, but this was to accelerate the implementation into production.
High-powered Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp engines were installed on the aircraft, as well as new wide-bladed propellers, most favorable for low- and medium-altitude flight, where naval patrol aircraft mostly operated. The aircraft received a strong defensive armament consisting of 8 7.69 mm cal. machine guns: 2 movable in the nose section of the fuselage in the navigator’s station, an additional 2 non-movable above it, 2 movable in the Boulton-Paul gunner’s turret on the back of the fuselage and 2 on the gunner’s station in a specially formed protrusion under the tail section of the fuselage. The aircraft carried 1800 kg of bombs or depth charges. Compared with the Hudson aircraft, the new plane, which was named Ventura in the UK, had a longer range and considerably higher speed. In May 1940, the British had already placed an order for 300 exemplars of the Ventura Mk.I version.

General Specifications

  • Type: Twin-engined patrol bomber.

Wings

  • Configuration: Mid-wing cantilever monoplane.
  • Construction: The centre-section is integral with the fuselage, featuring a main spar and front and rear shear beams, with Alclad skin reinforced by corrugated sheets and stringers. The outer wings include detachable tips, single spars, and sheet ribs, covered in Alclad skin, reinforced by corrugations on the upper surface and stringers on the lower surface. Features all-metal ailerons with controllable trim-tabs and fixed slots in the leading-edge ahead of the ailerons. Fowler flaps extend over 34% of the trailing-edge.

Fuselage

  • Structure: All-metal elliptical-section monocoque, built with bulkheads, frames, longitudinal members, and flush-riveted Alclad skin.

Tail Unit

  • Configuration: Cantilever monoplane type with twin fins and rudders.
  • Construction: All-metal, with a tailplane consisting of a centre-section, two outer sections, and two semi-circular tips. Fin and rudder assemblies are interchangeable between left and right sides. Trim-tabs are present in the elevators and rudders.

Landing Gear

  • Type: Retractable with Aerol shock-absorber units retracting into the tails of the engine nacelles. Features interchangeable units with minor adjustments, hydraulic retraction, Goodyear wheels, and hydraulic brakes. Also includes a retractable tail-wheel.

Power Plant

  • Engines: Two 2,000 h.p. Pratt & Whitney R-2800-31 eighteen-cylinder radial air-cooled engines with two-speed superchargers.
  • Propellers: Three-blade Hamilton-Standard Hydromatic broad-blade constant-speed airscrews, 10 ft. 7 in. (3.23 m.) diameter.
  • Fuel System: Comprises four tanks in the centre-section, two in the outer sections, two cabin tanks, and provisions for external droppable tanks and long-range ferry tanks in the bomb-bay. All tanks are self-sealing.
  • Oil System: Main oil tanks in each nacelle with reserve tanks in the fuselage.

Accommodation

  • Crew: Four members, including a pilot, navigator/bomb-aimer, radio operator/gunner, and turret gunner.

Armament

  • Fixed Guns: Two 0.50 cal. machine-guns in the nose.
  • Turret Guns: Two 0.50 cal. guns in a Martin electrically-operated dorsal turret.
  • Tunnel Guns: Two 0.30 cal. guns.
  • Bomb Bay: Internal bay accommodating up to 2,500 lbs. of bombs, six 325 lb. depth-charges, or one standard 22 in. short aircraft torpedo. External stations can carry two 500 lb. bombs or two depth-charges in place of external wing tanks.

Dimensions

  • Span: 65 ft. 6 in. (19.96 m)
  • Length: 51 ft. 7 in. (15.74 m)
  • Height: 14 ft. 1 in. (4.31 m)
  • Wing Area: 551 sq. ft. (51.2 sq. m.) with flaps retracted, 619 sq. ft. (57.5 sq. m.) with flaps fully lowered

Weights

  • Empty Weight: 19,373 lbs. (8,795 kg)
  • Normal Loaded Weight: 26,500 lbs. (12,030 kg)
  • Maximum Overloaded Weight: 31,000 lbs. (14,075 kg)

Performance

  • Maximum Speed: Over 300 mph (480 km/h)
  • Service Ceiling: Over 25,000 ft. (7,625 m)
  • Range: Over 1,000 miles (1,600 km)