British crews were complaining that the bomb load was too light, despite the fact Ventura could carry twice as much load as the Hudson. However it suffered heavy losses during daylight raids on targets in Netherlands and only after a few months of service, it was replaced by the much faster de Havilland Mosquito bomber.
The RAF equipped three of its bombers squadrons with the Ventura (designated as the Ventura Mk I) and it flew its first combat mission in November 1942 with them. These power plants allowed the plane to be approximately 80 kph faster than the Hudson, but the operational range was reduced. Lockheed engineers thus equipped the Ventura with more powerful Pratt & Whitney R-2800-S1A4-G engines, producing 1850 horsepower each. However, the British planned to use the Ventura as a medium bomber and demanded higher speeds. The original Lodestar was powered by two Pratt & Whitney R-1820 radial engines producing 1200 horsepower, which gave the aircraft a good range in exchange for lower speeds. In fact, the overall layout was nearly the same, only bigger and heavier. The resulting aircraft, named Lockheed Ventura, was visually very similar to the Hudson. The British eventually accepted the proposal and ordered 675 units.
The new plane was however planned to be based on the larger Lockheed Lodestar.
The new aircraft was to be based on a civilian transport plane, in the same way the Hudson was based on the Lockheed 14 Super Electra. In September 1939, the Lockheed aircraft company contacted their British representatives and proposed an enlarged, more advanced version of the previous Lockheed Hudson.
0 kommentar(er)
