Consolidated TBY Sea Wolf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consolidated_TBY_Sea_Wolf

The Consolidated TBY Sea Wolf was a United States Navy torpedo bomber of World
War II. A competitor and contemporary to the very similar Grumman TBF Avenger,
the Sea Wolf was subject to substantial delays and never saw combat; only 180 of
the type were built before cancellation after VJ Day.

The original design was not by Consolidated Aircraft, but rather by Vought, who
designed the then XTBU-1 Sea Wolf to a 1939 US Navy requirement. The first
prototype flew two weeks after Pearl Harbor. Its performance was deemed superior
to the Avenger and the Navy placed an order for 1,000 examples.

Several unfortunate incidents intervened; the prototype was damaged in a rough
arrested landing trial, and when repaired a month later was again damaged in a
collision with a training aircraft. Once repaired again, the prototype was
accepted by the Navy. However, by this time Vought was heavily overcommitted to
other contracts, especially for the F4U Corsair fighter, and had no production
capacity. It was arranged that Consolidated-Vultee would produce the aircraft
(as the TBY), but this had to wait until the new production facility in
Allentown, Pennsylvania was complete, which took until late 1943.


Role
Torpedo bomber

Manufacturer
Consolidated Aircraft

Designer
Vought

First flight
22 December 1941

Introduction
1944

Status
Retired

Primary user
United States Navy

Number built
180

The production TBYs were radar-equipped, with a radome under the right-hand
wing. The first aircraft flew on 20 August 1944. By this time though, the
Avenger equipped every torpedo squadron in the Navy, and there was no need for
the Sea Wolf; in addition, numerous small problems delayed entry into service.
Orders were cancelled after production started, and the 180 built were used for
training.

Specifications (TBY Sea Wolf)

General characteristics
Crew: three
Length: 39 ft 2 in (11.95 m)
Wingspan: 56 ft 11 in (17.35 m)
Height: 15 ft 6 in (4.72 m)
Wing area: 440 ft² (40.88 m²)
Empty weight: 11,366 lb (5,142 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 18,448 lb (8,386 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Pratt & Whitney R-2800-6 Double Wasp radial engine, 2,000 hp
(1,491 kW)

Performance
Maximum speed: 306 mph (492 km/h)
Range: 1,500 mi (2,414 km)
Service ceiling: 27,200 ft (8,290 m)

Armament

1 × .50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine gun in cowling
2 × .50 in machine gun in the wings
1 × .50 in machine gun in dorsal turret
1 × .30 in (7.62 mm) M1919 Browning machine gun in ventral mount
Up to 2,000 lb (910 kg) of bombs or one torpedo




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