Lockheed 14 Hudson

In 1938, Britain urgently needed a maritime patrol craft. Lockheed proposed producing a militarized version of their Lockheed 14 Super Electra (which was doing poorly in the commercial market anyways). Passenger seating was replaced with a bomb bay, a glazed nose was introduced, and a turret was added to the fuselage in a dorsal rear position. The plane was ready for delivery by late 1939, and production continued until 1943, with some 2,941 having been built. Britain purchased a number of the aircraft outright, and received a large number of additional aircraft under the Lend-Lease program. The Hudson changed Lockheed from a struggling civilian aviation company into a major aircraft manufacturer.

The Hudson achieved a number of firsts in WWII. It was the first U.S. built aircraft to score an RAF victory (shooting down a Dornier Do 18) in 1939, helped to spot the German Altmark in 1940, accepted the surrender of U-570 in 1941, and was used to deploy airborne lifeboats in 1943. An A-29 was the first US aircraft to sink a U-boat (U-701) in 1942.

The Hudson had a crew of four to six: pilot, co-pilot, navigator/bombardier, radio operator/gunner, and up to two additional gunners. The plane had a historical range of 1,960 miles. The plane uses 82 gallons of aviation fuel per hour at routine usage. A full load of fuel and MG ammo costs $159.

Lockheed Hudson Mk I

Subassemblies: Heavy Fighter-Bomber chassis +4; Heavy Fighter-Bomber wings +3; two Large Weapon Pods +1; Medium Weapon Turret [Body:T] +1; 3 retractable wheels +1.

Powertrain: Two 820-kW aerial HP gasoline engines [Pods] with two 820-kW props, 664-gallon standard fuel tanks [Wings], and 8,000-kWs batteries.

Occ.: 6 CS Body

Cargo: 39 Body

Armor F RL B T U

Body: 2/3 2/3 2/3 2/3 2/3

Wings: 2/3 2/3 2/3 2/3 2/3

Pods: 2/3 2/3 2/3 2/3 2/3

Turret: 2/2 2/2 2/2 2/2 2/2

Weaponry:

2xAircraft LMG/.303 Browning [Body:F] (500 rounds each).

2xAircraft LMG/.303 Browning [Turret:F] (1,000 rounds each).

4x250-lb. antisubmarine bombs [Body:U], or

10x110-lb. antisubmarine bombs [Body:U], or

12x112-lb. Mk VIIc antisubmarine bombs [Body:U].

Equipment:

Body: Autopilot, navigation instruments, medium radio transmitter and receiver, backup driver controls.

Statistics:

Size: 44'x65'x12' Payload: 3.7 tons Lwt.: 9.75 tons

Volume: 640 Maint.: 29 hours Cost: $46,404

HT: 10. HPs: 525 Body, 450 each Wing, 120 each Pod, 75 Turret, 50 each Wheel.

aSpeed: 246 aAccel: 5 aDecel: 33 aMR: 8 aSR: 2

Stall Speed: 81 mph. Take Off Run: 656 yards. Landing Run: 656 yards.

gSpeed: 208 gAccel: 10 gDecel: 10 gMR: 0.25 gSR: 3

Ground Pressure: Extremely High. No Off-Road Speed.

Design Notes:

Historical wing area was 551 sf. Design aSpeed was 258 mph. Historical values for wing area and loaded weight were used for performance calculations. Design loaded weight was lowered 6% to the historical. Although there is ample space in the military version, as a civilian passenger plane with 14 passenger seats, the chassis is 3 VSP too small. The design purchases a 645-gallon fuel tank; the historical capacity is shown.

Variants:

The Mk II was nearly the same as the Mk I. 20 built.

The Mk III featured 895-kW engines. 428 built.

The Mk IIIA was issued under the Lend-Lease program. Used by the USAAF as the A-29. 800 built.

The Mk IV were 50 Mk Is redesigned with 783-kW engines.

The Mk IVA (or A-28 in US service) featured 873-kW engines. 409 built.

The Mk V was similar to the Mk III.

The Mk VI was essentially the same as Mk IIIs and Mk Vs.

The C.Mk VI were Mk VIs with armament removed for cargo transport.

From the Aerodrome for GURPS