Fokker XB-8 - Misplaced Pages

(Redirected from Fokker O-27) Dutch bomber prototype for the United States Army Air Corps

XB-8
XB-8 prototype
General information
Type	Bomber
Manufacturer	General Aviation Corporation.
Designer	Fokker
Primary user	United States Army Air Corps
Number built	7 (1 XB-8 + 2 YB-8 + 4 Y1B-8), all as Y1O-27
History
First flight	20 October 1930 as XO-27, February 1931 as XB-8

The Fokker XB-8 was a bomber built for the United States Army Air Corps in the 1930s, derived from the high-speed Fokker O-27 observation aircraft.

Design and development

During assembly, the second prototype XO-27 was converted to a bomber prototype, dubbed the XB-8. While the XB-8 was much faster than existing biplane bombers, it did not have the bomb capacity to be considered for production. Two YB-8s and 4 Y1B-8s were ordered, but these were changed mid-production to Y1O-27 configuration.

The wing of the XB-8 and XO-27 was built entirely from wood, although the fuselage was constructed of steel tubes covered with fabric with the exception of the nose which had a corrugated metal. They featured the first retractable landing gear ever fitted to an Army Air Corps bomber or observation craft. The undercarriage retracted electrically. The crew was three in tandem position.

Operational history

It competed against the Douglas Y1B-7/XO-36. Both promised to greatly exceed the performance of the large biplane bombers then used by the Army Air Corps. However, the Douglas XB-7 was markedly better in performance than the XB-8, and no further versions of Fokker's aircraft were built.

Operators

United States

United States Army Air Corps

Specifications (XB-8)

Data from Fokker's Twilight.

General characteristics

Crew: 4
Length: 47 ft 4 in (14.42 m)
Wingspan: 64 ft 4 in (19.60 m)
Height: 11 ft 6 in (3.50 m)
Wing area: 619 sq ft (57.5 m)
Empty weight: 6,861 lb (3,112 kg)
Gross weight: 10,650 lb (4,824 kg)
Powerplant: 2 × Curtiss V-1570-23 "Conqueror" V12 engines, 600 hp (450 kW) each

Performance

Maximum speed: 160 mph (260 km/h, 140 kn)

References

Notes

^ Cellier Flight 23 August 1934, p. 864
Pelletier 2005, p. 64.

Bibliography

Cellier, Alfred (23 August 1934). "American Military Monoplanes". Flight. Vol. XXVI, no. 1339. pp. 862–865. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
Pelletier, Alain J. "Fokker Twilight". Air Enthusiast, No. 117, May/June 2005, pp. 62–66. ISSN 0143-5450.
Wagner, Ray. American Combat Planes. New York: Doubleday, 1982. ISBN 0-930083-17-2.

External links

O-27 USAAS 1000 Aircraft Photos
Army's Mystery Plane Passes Speed Test – Popular Science
Atlantic (Fokker) XB-8 – National Museum of the US Air Force

Fokker aircraft

Company designations
pre-1918

M.1 M.2 M.3 M.4 M.5 M.6 M.7 M.8 M.9 M.10 M.14 M.15 M.16 M.17 M.18 M.19 M.21 M.22
V.1 V.2 V.3 V.4 V.5 V.6 V.7 V.8 V.9 V.10 V.11 V.12 V.13 V.14 V.16 V.17 V.18 V.20 V.21 V.22 V.23 V.24 V.25 V.26 V.27 V.28 V.29 V.30 V.31 V.33 V.34 V.35 V.36 V.37 V.38 V.39 V.40 V.41 V.42 V.43 V.44 V.45 W.1 W.2 W.3 W.4

Austro-Hungarian
military designations

German military
designations

A.I A.II A.III
C.I
D.I D.II D.III D.IV D.V D.VI D.VII D.VIII
Dr.I
E.I E.II E.III E.IV E.V
F.I
K.I

Company designations
post-1918

continuing
German military
style designations:

B.I B.II B.III B.IV B.V B.VI
C.II C.III C.IV C.V C.VI C.VII C.VIII C.IX C.X C.XI C.XIV C.XV
D.IX D.X D.XI D.XII D.XIII D.XIV D.XV D.XVI D.XVII D.XVIII D.XIX D.XX D.XXI D.22 D.23 D.24
DC.I DC.II
F.I F.II F.III F.IV F.V F.VI F.VII F.VIII F.IX F.X F.XI F.XII F.XIII F.XIV F.XV F.XVI F.XVII F.XVIII F.XIX F.XX F.XXI F.XXIII F.25 F26 F27 F28 F.29 F.37
FG.I FG.II FG.III FG.IV
G.I G.II G.III
S.I S.II S.III S.IV S.V S.VI S.VII S.VIII S.IX S.X S.11 S.12 S.13 S.14 S.15 S.16
T.II T.III T.IV T.V T.VI T.VII T.VIII T.IX T.10

based on
seating:

Atlantic Aircraft
(Fokker America/Atlantic-Fokker)

United States
military designations

Observation:	AO-1 CO-4 XO-27
Transports:	T-2 C-2 C-5 C-7 C-14 C-15 C-16 C-20 C-31 RA
Bombers:	XHB-2 XLB-2 XB-8 FT-1 FT-2
Attack:	XA-7
Fighters:	PW-5 PW-6 PW-7
Ambulance:	A-2
Trainer:	TW-4

USAAS/USAAC/USAAF/USAF bomber designations, Army/Air Force and Tri-Service systems

Original sequences
(1924–1930)

Light bomber	LB-1 LB-2 LB-3 LB-4 LB-5 LB-6 LB-7 LB-8 LB-9 LB-10 LB-11 LB-12 LB-13 LB-14
Medium bomber	B-1 B-2
Heavy bomber	HB-1 HB-2 HB-3

Main sequence
(1930–1962)

B-1
B-2
B-3
B-4
B-5
B-6
B-7
B-8
B-9
B-10
B-11
B-12
B-13
B-14
B-15
B-16
B-17
B-18
B-19
B-20
B-21
B-22
B-23
B-24
B-25
B-26
B-27
B-28
B-29
- B-29D
B-30
B-31
B-32
B-33
B-34
B-35
B-36
- B-36G
- NB-36H
B-37
B-38
B-39
B-40
B-41
B-42
B-43
B-44
B-45
B-46
B-47
- B-47C
B-48
B-49
B-50
- B-50C
B-51
B-52
B-53
B-54
B-55
B-56
B-57
- RB-57D
- RB-57F
B-58
B-59
B-60
B-61
B-62
B-63
B-64
B-65
B-66
B-67
B-68
B-69
B-70
B-71

Long-range bomber
(1935–1936)

Tri-Service sequence
(1962–current)

Non-sequential

Redesignated A-series	B-20 B-26
Fighter-bomber, in F-series	FB-22 FB-111
Other	B-21

United States observation aircraft designations, USAAC/USAAF and Tri-Service systems

USAAC/USAAF sequence
(1924–1942)

O-1
O-2
O-3
O-4
O-5
O-6
O-7
O-8
O-9
O-10
O-11
O-12
O-13
O-14
O-15
O-16
O-17
O-18
O-19
O-20
O-21
O-22
O-23
O-24
O-25
O-26
O-27
O-28
O-29
O-30
O-31
O-32
O-33
O-34
O-35
O-36
O-37
O-38
O-39
O-40
O-41
O-42
O-43
O-44
O-45
O-46
O-47
O-48
O-49
O-50
O-51
O-52
O-53
O-54
O-55
O-56
O-57
O-58
O-59
O-60
O-61
O-62
O-63

Tri-Service sequence
(1962–present)

Related designations	OV-1 OV-10 OV-12

Unconfirmed

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