The Gun Counter

That is the question.

In ‘Texas in the Med’, I introduced a new bomber for the Texas Navy, the PB-4 Thunderbird. As published, it is slightly smaller than a B-29, but it has eight 2,000 hp engines. I’ve realized that this is a bit too much.

When I go in to edit for the audiobook version I’m thinking about fixing that, changing it to 4 engines. Does this sound more reasonable?

It does. The AF didn't go to any prop aircraft with more than 4 engines until the B-36 (and a prototype cargo plane based on the B-36, the XC-99. It was sitting near a side road on Kelly AFB when I was there in the 80s), which was a much larger aircraft than the B-29

randy wrote: ↑Fri Mar 22, 2024 9:07 pm It does. The AF didn't go to any prop aircraft with more than 4 engines until the B-36 (and a prototype cargo plane based on the B-36, the XC-99. It was sitting near a side road on Kelly AFB when I was there in the 80s), which was a much larger aircraft than the B-29.

Thanks, Randy.

When I came up with this, I was thinking about something similar to the Consolidated B-32 Dominator, similar performance to the B-29 but less sophisticated, no pressurization or remote turrets. In fact, I may have Consolidated partner with the Texas manufacturer to build this instead of what became the B-32. Imagine the influence on the B-36 when it comes out.