Fletcher BG-2

The Fletcher BG-2 was a proposed American bomb glider designed by Fletcher Aviation in World War II.

BG-2
3-view drawing of the Fletcher XBG-2
Role Bomb glider
Manufacturer Fletcher Aviation
Designer Wendell Fletcher
First flight never built
Status cancelled
Primary user United States Army Air Forces
Number built 0

Design

The XBG-2 (Model 16) was conceived by the Fletcher company as a wooden bomb-carrying glider as a derivative of its earlier BG-1, in turn based on the company's YCQ-1 drone control plane (a conversion of its unsuccessful FBT-2 trainer). It was to use two fuselages and outer wing panels of the BG-1 joined by a new wing center section and a horizontal tailplane connecting the two vertical fins, as well as a TV fairing under the inboard wing on the centerline or in the starboard fuselage nose. The main landing gear was supported by four main gear struts, and each fuselage would have housed a 2,000-pound bomb.[1][2]

Three XBG-2s (serials 42-46902/4) were ordered by the USAAF in April 1942.[3][N 1] However, when flight characteristics of the BG-1 turned out to be unsatisfactory, on September 8, 1942, the BG-2 contract was cancelled without any completed.[1]

Specifications

Data from [1]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 0
  • Length: 23.3 ft (7.1 m)
  • Wingspan: 45.0 ft (13.7 m)
  • Wing area: 208 sq ft (19.3 m2)
  • Empty weight: 2,431 lb (1,103 kg)
  • Gross weight: 6,531 lb (2,962 kg)

Performance

  • Stall speed: 84 mph (135 km/h, 73 kn)
  • Maximum glide ratio: 10.9:1

Armament

  • Bombs: 2x 2,000 lb bombs
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References
  1. Norton, Bill. American Military Gliders of World War II: Development, Training, Experimentation, and Tactics of All Aircraft Types. Atglen, PA: Shiffer Publishing, Ltd. p. 210.
  2. "BG Series". Designation-systems.net. 2009-06-25. Retrieved 2020-04-06.
  3. Andrade, John (1979). U.S.Military Aircraft Designations and Serials since 1909. Midland Counties Publications. ISBN 0-904597-22-9.
  4. Bill Norton: "American Military Glider Experiments of WWII", AAHS Journal Vol. 53 No. 2, Summer 2008

Notes
  1. Andrade (1979, pp. 59, 96) states that the XBG-2s on contract were originally ordered as a production batch of the Frankfort CG-1; however, Andreas Parsch notes that Andrade's mention of the XBG-2 bomb gliders being originally ordered as CG-1s is due to a Q→G typo in CQ-1, since Norton (2008) points out that the BG-2, like the BG-1, was derived from the CQ-1 drone controller plane.[4]
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