AFAMF XB-3 medium bomber

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Hey guys today I’ll be suggesting the XB-3, a domestically produced medium bomber for the Chinese tech tree

HISTORY

The XB-3 was a indigenously designed Chinese medium bomber using parts from the Soviet Tupolev SB-3 bomber. The project began in 1942 when there was an urgent need for more bombers as the SB and DB bombers given to the Chinese Air Force by the Soviets started to become obsolete against the fast evolving Japanese Air Force and to decrease reliance on foreign imports.
Even though the XB-3 used parts from the Tupolev SB (engines, propellers, landing gears, and instrument panels) its fuselage and material composition was different from the soviet bomber. Instead of being all metal like the SB the XB-3’s fuselage and wing spars were made out of wood and its skin was a special bamboo-based aircraft skin layer made by the Aeronautical Research Institute.
Three test flights were conducted with the first two being successful however on the third test flight on of the landing gears failed to extend and led to a crash landing, heavily damaging the plane and pilot. After this further research was halted and the project was shut down… however according to one source 3 more aircraft were made with one being fully competed and the project officially shut down in 1946.
Even if this project was successful by 1944 the XB-3 would have been practically obsolete and wouldn’t have been the frontline medium bomber it was intended to be. Fortunately for the ROCAF B-25’s filled in for the aging Tupolev SB fleet.

In Game:
In game the XB-3 would would be a good low tier medium bomber and it would add some uniqueness to low tier China.

Specifications :

Wingspan: 20.40 meters

Length: 13.00 meters

Height: 3.30 meters

Speed: about 380 km/h (design requirements)

Ceiling: 9000 meters (design requirements)

Range: 1000 kilometers (design requirements)

Powerplant: “Klimov M-103”, 960 horsepower X2

Crew: 3~4 people

Armament:

Defensive weapons (probably): 2 x 7.62 mm shKAS machine gun (1 x in the nose 1 x dorsal)

Maximum bomb load: 500 kg

More images:




Sources :

http://cwlam2000.epizy.com/caf38.htm

中國民用飛機圖誌1912-1949 (book)

中国近代航空工业老照片. Vol. 1 (book)
我國怎樣製造飛機” (How Our Country Produced Aircraft) published by the Information / News Bureau of the governmental Executive Yuan (行政院新聞局印行)

6 Likes
2

Looks interesting +1

2 Likes
3

+1, would love to see more unique designs for low rank China!

3 Likes
4

I’m all for domestic Chinese stuff! +1

3 Likes
5

+1

4 Likes
6

+1 This and other unique Chinese designs should have been introduced a long time ago when the tree was introduced.

7

If its domestic its needed, same with all the other domestic chinese props
+1

8

not just 380km/h I think

1 Like
9

Yeah its probably a bit higher since it’s mostly made of wood and bamboo.

Maybe it’s Sichuan bamboo/wood? I’ve seen a lot of studies for this one in archives.

2 Likes
10

+1
Will you do a suggestion for XP-1 too?

11

Sadly there isn’t much information known on the aircraft, as it crashed on its first flight.

12

Inexcusable that this wasn’t in the tree at launch.

1 Like
13

From 2 of the source source it crashed on its 3rd flight when landing, not first, there are a lot of aircraft in the game that have crashed and been cancelled during their test regimes like the xp50 since a lot of what they know now is based on aerodynamic simulation from the specifications seen in the past

14

I was talking about XP-1

15

Suggestion passed to the developers for consideration.

1 Like
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