[Don Plumley]

From Foxtrot Alpha (Jalopnik):

During the mid 1930s, the Army Air Corps wanted to push the technological envelope when it came to building a very long range bomber. Code named 'Project D,' this top-secret initiative would lead to the largest American bomber concept flown during World War II, the massive yet elegant Douglas XB-19.

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The XB-19 was finally finished in May of 1941. She was rolled out to the public sporting a massive 212 foot wingspan, just larger than that of a 747. The XB-19 was 132 feet long, and weighted 130,000lbs empty, which made it the largest aircraft America had ever built at the time. The aircraft could hold over 11,000 gallons of gas.

She was designed to be operated by a crew of 16, but an additional eight crew, which would consist of relief pilots and mechanics, could be carried for extended missions. Bunks and a complete galley were also an innovation on the giant bomber, as the aircraft's relatively low cruise speed, of around 170mph, would mean that missions could last over 24 hours.

As far as weapons go, the XB-19 was designed to be bristling with guns, including a pair of 37mm cannons, which was totally unique among American bombers of WWII. In addition to these big anti-aircraft cannons, five .50 caliber and six .30 caliber machine guns would create a protective lead buffer around the aircraft.

When it came to bombs, the XB-19 was an extremely heavy hitting aircraft for the time period, and was equipped with ten under-wing racks and a very large bomb bay. The bomb bay alone could hold a whopping 18,000lbs of bombs, and the under-wing racks could carry bombs of up to 2,000lbs each. The maximum bomb load for the XB-19 totaled an incredible 37,000lbs, although its 4,200 mile range would be noticeably shortened with such a heavy payload. By comparison, the B-17 Flying Fortress could carry around 8,500lbs of bombs on short-ranged missions, but usually carried half that on long range missions of Europe.