Consolidated Vultee Carrier Based Bomber for Navy OS-106

[Tailspin Turtle]

The Navy received three proposals from industry in response to its RFP for a heavy multi-engine carrier-based bomber for Outline Specification 106. The winner was North American, with what became the AJ Savage. Douglas was a close second with its Model 566. Consolidated Vultee (CV) also proposed but its offer was reportedly rejected because it, in the Navy's estimation, would not provide the minimum 300 nautical-mile mission radius.

Unlike the other two proposals with three engines, two piston and one jet, the CV bomber was powered by four engines, two P&W R-2800s and two Westinghouse 24C jet engines, colocated in the engine nacelles. (The upper exhaust was for the piston engine's turbosupercharger.) At the time of the proposal, the crew requirement was apparently only for a pilot and "bomber"; the AJ had a three-man crew: pilot, bombardier, and a third crew station presumably for the individual who was to arm the bomb (it was usually occupied by a crew chief).

 

[Stargazer]

Brilliant images, thanks Tailspin Turtle!

The numbers on the plan strongly suggest that this was Model 46 in the old Consolidated system. There were many report and document designations that did not reflect an actual model number, but in the case of ZP-, it was different, since all ZP- reports until the late 1940s had numbers which very often matched the known model numbers.

 

[hesham]

Great find my dear Tailspin,


it was mentioned in Convair Advanced Designs book,but with a little info,and it proceeded
with many twin engined designs,as attack aircraft and very similar to it,and no mention for
its designation number in the book.

 

[acegeek9992]

The Navy received three proposals from industry in response to its RFP for a heavy multi-engine carrier-based bomber for Outline Specification 106. The winner was North American, with what became the AJ Savage. Douglas was a close second with its Model 566. Consolidated Vultee (CV) also proposed but its offer was reportedly rejected because it, in the Navy's estimation, would not provide the minimum 300 nautical-mile mission radius.

Unlike the other two proposals with three engines, two piston and one jet, the CV bomber was powered by four engines, two P&W R-2800s and two Westinghouse 24C jet engines, colocated in the engine nacelles. (The upper exhaust was for the piston engine's turbosupercharger.) At the time of the proposal, the crew requirement was apparently only for a pilot and "bomber"; the AJ had a three-man crew: pilot, bombardier, and a third crew station presumably for the individual who was to arm the bomb (it was usually occupied by a crew chief).

Didn't it also have three "alternate" variants? I remember from ASP4 that the "alternate A" design involved the replacement of the Double Wasps with Duplex-Cyclones, "alternate B" had a third jet installed in the fuselage, and "alternate 'C'" featured a swept wing while retaining the engines and fuselage of the original design.

 

[hesham]

Didn't it also have two "alternate" variants? I remember from ASP4 that one of those designs was the "alternate 'C'" that features a swept wing while retaining the engine installations and fuselage of the original design.

Good question.