The XB-59,
Boeing
The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and p ...
model number 701, was a 1950s proposal for a
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
supersonic
bomber
A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped from an air ...
aircraft.
Design and development
In 1949 the US government canceled the
Boeing XB-55
Boeing XB-55 (company designation Model 474) was a proposed Boeing aircraft designed to be a strategic bomber. The XB-55 was intended to be a replacement for the Boeing B-47 Stratojet in United States Air Force (USAF) service.
Design and devel ...
contract, which had been an effort to produce a subsonic replacement for the just-being-introduced Boeing
B-47 Stratojet
The Boeing B-47 Stratojet (Boeing company designation Model 450) is a retired American long-range, six-engined, turbojet-powered strategic bomber designed to fly at high subsonic speed and at high altitude to avoid enemy interceptor aircraft. ...
. The XB-55 project had started in 1947, but by the end of the decade it was apparent that if strategic penetration in warfare were to be successful at all, it would require aircraft much faster than the jet
fighter aircraft which were then being placed into operation. Thus, the funding made available by the XB-55 cancellation was earmarked for the study of a supersonic medium bomber, and a request for proposals was extended to several aircraft companies.
Boeing submitted a proposal for a four-engine, high-wing aircraft with a highly streamlined
fuselage
The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraf ...
. The four engines would be buried in thickened wing roots; the remaining wing planform was highly tapered.
Developed under weapons system designation MX-1965, the XB-59 was to have a crew of three, and would be powered by four
GE J73-X24A turbojet
The turbojet is an airbreathing jet engine which is typically used in aircraft. It consists of a gas turbine with a propelling nozzle. The gas turbine has an air inlet which includes inlet guide vanes, a compressor, a combustion chamber, an ...
engines, mounted in the roots of the 73-foot span wings. The landing gear would be similar to the
bicycle arrangement found on the B-47 and
B-52 Stratofortress, with wingtip-mounted outriggers.
The Boeing contract for the XB-59 was canceled in late 1952 after the
Convair
Convair, previously Consolidated Vultee, was an American aircraft manufacturing company that later expanded into rockets and spacecraft. The company was formed in 1943 by the merger of Consolidated Aircraft and Vultee Aircraft. In 1953, i ...
company's submission, designated
B-58 Hustler
The Convair B-58 Hustler, designed and produced by American aircraft manufacturer Convair, was the first operational bomber capable of Mach 2 flight.
The B-58 was developed during the 1950s for the United States Air Force (USAF) Strategic Air ...
, was selected for development.
The Boeing effort was a design study only, and no construction was involved.
Specifications
See also
External links
XB-59, from USAF Museum
{{USAF bomber aircraft
B-59
Quadjets
Cancelled military aircraft projects of the United States
High-wing aircraft
Bomber aircraft