Consolidated_PB-2A.htm

Consolidated PB-2A

The Consolidated PB-2 was a two-seat USAAC fighter, originally designated as the P-30. Per Reference [8] it was the first aircraft in USAAC service with retractable landing gear, an enclosed, heated cockpit and an exhaust driven 'turbo-charger" for improved high altitude operations. Its first flight was in January 1934. The base P-30/PB-2 aircraft was fitted with a 675HP engine while the P-30A/PB-2A variant was fitted with a 700HP engine. A total of 60 of variants of this type aircraft were built. They served operationally with the USAAC, but had been relegated to trainer roles by the start of WWII and eventually withdrawn from service in mid 1942.

As shown in the image below distinguishing features of this aircraft including;

an enclosed two-person cockpit with a rear-facing gunner position
retractable landing gear
an inline engine with turbocharger

[Original Image source is US Government - Public Domain - via Wikipedia [Ref 8], as annotated by this site]

In order to try and better develop weight estimating relationships an effort has been made to estimate the length of the fuselage aft of the firewall, and the length of the engine section forward of the firewall based off scaled drawings. Together these two distances add to a term called the "structural length" and do not consider any portion of the engine or propeller shaft the extend foward of the fuselage/cowling, or any empennage that extends aft of the fuselage structure. The drawing below shows the current best estimate of these dimensions obtained from available drawings of the airplane and will be updated with any real world data that becomes available. For any aircraft with an inclined firewall, an attempt has been made to locate an approximate center of this location.

PB2A-Dims

Source References [2] [3] & [8]

In the above images, dimensions in Black come from the source material while dimesions in Red have been approximated from the data available.

The table below summarizes the current data collected on this type aircraft, identifying sources for the data

		Consolidated	Reference Source	Notes
		PB-2A	Reference Source
No of Crew		2	8
Engine:
Qty		1	2
Model		V-1570-61	2
Displacement	(cu in)	1570	8
Power
Military	(HP)
War Emergency	(HP)
Normal	(HP)
Take Off	(HP)	700	5
Eng Dims
Length	(ft)
Width/Dia	(ft)
Height	(ft)
Base Engine Wt	(lb)	1040.76	5
Propeller
# Blades		3	8
Dia	(ft)
Manufacturer		Curtiss (Elec)
Type		Variable Pitch
Wing
Span	(ft)	43.9	2
Root Thickness	(%)	18.0%	2
	(in)	19.7	2
Total Area	(sq ft)	297	2
Wing (less Ailerons & Flaps)	(sq ft)
Ailerons	(sq ft)
Flaps	(sq ft)
Tail Area	(sq ft)	58.8	3	NACA Research Memorandom L7E15
V Tail Area	(sq ft)	18.7	3	NACA Research Memorandom L7E15
Fin	(sq ft)
Rudder	(sq ft)
H Tail Area	(sq ft)	40.1	3	NACA Research Memorandom L7E15
Stabilizer	(sq ft)
Elevator	(sq ft)
Total Control Surf Area	(sq ft)
Length
Overall	(ft)
Fuselage	(ft)	29.5	2
Body	(ft)	28.16
Body Depth	(ft)
Body Width	(ft)
Fuel Tank Volume	(gal)
Wing Tanks	(gal)
FuselageTanks	(gal)
Oil Tank Volume	(gal)
Water Injection Tank Volume	(gal)
Wetted Area (sqf)	(sq ft)
Pwr Ldng	(lb/HP)	7.97	2
Wing Ldng	(lb/sq ft)	17.5	2
Struct. Des. GW	(lb)
Ultimate Load Factor	(G's)
Design Speed	(mph)
Not to Exceed Speed	(mph)

Total Struct Weight		1902	2
Total Wing		900	2
Wing (less Ailerons & Flaps)
Ailerons
Flaps
Fuselage Carry-Through
Tail		125	2
H Tail		86	2
Stabilizer
Elevator
V Tail		39	2
Fin
Rudder
Body + Eng Section + LG
Body + LG		817
Body		534	2
Fuselage
Engine Section
Landing Gear		343	2
Mn Landing Gr		316	2
Tail/Nose Aux LG		27	2
Tail Hook
Booms
Nacelles
Total Propulsion Weight		1917	2
Engine w/ Accessories		1247	2
Engine(s) as Installed		1032	2
Accessories		215	2
Turbocharger(s)
Controls		12	2
Propeller(s)		291	2
2-Blade
3-Blade		291	2
4-Blade
Starting System		35	2
Water Injection System
Tanks
Piping Etc
Cooling System		201	2
Lube System		24	2
Tanks
Piping Etc
Fuel System		107	2
Tanks
Piping Etc
Total Sys. & Eqpmt.		413	2
Instruments		30	2
Surface Controls		83	2
Hydraulics
Electrical Equip		75	2
Electronics
Arm Prov/Equipment & Armor
Furnishings		225	2
Anti-Ice (If not in Furn)
Other /Misc
Hoisting Gear
Floatation Gear
Empty Wt		4232	2
Basic Mission Useful Load		1347	2
Crew		400	2
Equipment
Oil		45	2
Fuel		540	2
Fuel & Oil Trapped in Systems
Water for Engine Injection
Bombs/Torp Etc
Radio (if Not in Empty Wt)
Nav Equipment
Oxygen System
Armament		206	2
Guns & Ammo		206	2
Guns		63	2
Ammo		143	2
Pyrotechnics
Camera
Other
Other Useful Load		156	2
Basic Mission GW		5579	2
Additional Loads
Fuel		+540	2
Bombs Etc		+170	2

Guns
HVA Rockets
Max Useful Load		1907		Calculated from data in Ref [2]
Max GW		6200		Calculated from data in Ref [2]

Additional Load Notes		90 gal in Wing Tanks	2
		10 x 17lb Bomb	2

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Rev 4-12-26

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