Douglas B-18 Bolo

what is it?

The Douglas B-18 Bolo is an American twin-engined medium bomber which served with the United States Army Air Corps and the Royal Canadian Air Force (as the Digby) during the late 1930s and early 1940s. The Bolo was developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company from their DC-2 as a replacement for the Martin B-10. By 1940 standards, it was slow, had an inadequate defensive armament, and carried too small a bomb load.

🔎How to recognise it: 2 piston engines with propellers · mid-wing aircraft · retractable tailwheel (taildragger) · 27.3 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 348 km/htop speed
• size 12.6 tmax take-off weight
• built 350made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 91 years ago, in 1935.
• 🏎️Top speed is 2.7× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 27.3 m: about 6 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 2 African elephants (~6 t each).

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1935-04

introduced

1936

retired

1946

status

retired

number built

350

role

medium bomber

origin

🇺🇸 United States

makers

Douglas

engines

2× Wright R-1820-53 Cyclone

length

17.6 m

wingspan

27.3 m

height

4.6 m

max take-off weight

12.6 t

top speed

348 km/h

cruise speed

269 km/h

range

—

ceiling

7,285 m

wings

mid-wing aircraft

landing gear

retractable conventional landing gear

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.