B-23 Dragon

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A B-23 Dragon on the airfield.

The Douglas B-23 Dragon was a twin-engined bomber developed by Douglas Aircraft Company as a successor to (and a refinement of) the B-18 Bolo. The design of the B-23 was very similar to that of the Douglas DC-3. It was the first operational bomber equipped with a tail gun. It first flew on July 27, 1939.

While significantly faster and better armed than the B-18, the B-23 found itself inferior to newer bombers like the B-25 Mitchell and B-26 Marauder. For this reason, the 38 B-23s built were never used in combat. They worked in training, reconnaissance, transport (as the UC-67), and test-bed roles. One of the UC-67 is being reconverted to B-23 configuration by the USAF Museum.

The B-23's tall vertical tail was adapted by Ford for use on the B-24 Liberator and resulted in increased performance, but it was never adopted for production. The modification later became standard on the Navy's PB4Y Privateer, which was heavily derived from the Liberator.

Specifications (B-23 Dragon)

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