Lockheed 37 Ventura

The Lockheed 18 Lodestar was part of Lockheed's ongoing attempt to built an aircraft that could compete with Douglas's DC-3. Again, the civilian design was less successful than hoped. However, the Hudson had fared well in RAF service, and in 1939 the Lodestar was militarized into the Ventura. The Ventura surpassed the Hudson in terms of armament, power, and bomb load. Unfortunately, it did not perform well in daylight operations, and was relegated to coastal patrols and other second-line duties. It was built for the USN as the PV-1, with the longer-range PV-2 being named the Harpoon. To extend range, the PV-1 could carry additional fuel in two 155-gallon drop tanks or two 490-gallon auxiliary tanks placed in the bomb bay.

Total production for all variants was 3,028 aircraft. The plane was deployed by all the Commonwealth nations, U.S. forces, the Free French, and the Brazilian air force. Surplus craft were sold to Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Peru and Portugal following the war.

The PV-1 had a crew of five: pilot, optional co-pilot, navigator/bombardier, radio operator/gunner, and one additional gunner. The plane had a historical range of 1,360 miles. The plane uses 149 gallons of aviation fuel per hour at routine usage. A full load of fuel and MG ammo costs $381.40.

Lockheed PV-1 Ventura

Subassemblies: Light Bomber chassis +4; Heavy Fighter-Bomber wings +3; two Small AFV Pods +2; Medium Weapon Turret [Body:T] +1; 3 retractable wheels +2.

Powertrain: Two 1,491-kW aerial supercharged HP gasoline engines [Pods] with two 1,491-kW props, 807-gallon standard fuel tanks [Body and Wings], and 8,000-kWs batteries.

Occ.: 5 CS Body

Cargo: 80 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 HMG/12.7mm M3 [Body:F] (1000 rounds each).*

2xAircraft HMG/12.7mm M3 [Turret:F] (1000 rounds each).*

2xAircraft LMG/.303 Browning [Body:B] (1,000 rounds each).*

6x500-lb. bombs [Body:U]

2x1,000-lb. bombs [Wings:U]

or alternatively:

1xMk13-2 torpedo [Body:U], or

6x325-lb. depth charges [Body:U].

8x5" HVAR rockets [Wings:U].

*Linked in pairs.

Equipment:

Body: Autopilot, navigation instruments, medium radio transmitter and receiver, non-targeting search radar, backup driver controls. Turret: Universal mount. Wings: One 1,000-lb. hardpoint each.

Statistics:

Size: 52'x65'x12' Payload: 5.44 tons Lwt.: 15.5 tons

Volume: 1080 Maint.: 20 hours Cost: $101,317

HT: 7. HPs: 375 Body, 450 each Wing, 150 each Pod, 75 Turret, 35 each Wheel.

aSpeed: 322 aAccel: 6 aDecel: 21 aMR: 5.25 aSR: 2

Stall Speed: 101 mph. Take Off Run: 927 yards. Landing Run: 1,020 yards.

gSpeed: 222 gAccel: 11 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 321 mph. Historical values for wing area and loaded weight were used for performance calculations. Design loaded weight was increased 8% to the historical. The design purchases a 810-gallon fuel tank; the historical capacity is shown.

Variants:

The Ventura Mk I featured 1,380-kW engines. 675 built.

The Mk II had a larger bomb bay than the Mk I and 1,491-kW engines. The Mk IIA featured revised armament. Used by the USN as the PV-1.

The B-34 were 20 Mk IIAs used by the USAAF. -A and -B versions of this craft were used for training.

The B-37 featured 1,268-kW engines and revised armament. 18 built.

The PV-1P were photo reconnaissance versions of the PV-1.

The PV-2 Harpoon featured increased fuel capacity. PV-2Cs were the training version.

The PV-2D revised the armament of the PV-2; only 35 built before cancellation of contract.

The Lockheed 18 Loadstar was the civilian version. It featured two 652-kW powerplants and seating for 15-18 passengers. Beach seating could increase this to 26 passengers. Although it sold poorly in the U.S., it was exported to Africa, Brazil, Canada, France, the Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, and the UK. 96 built for civilian use; USN orders increased this to 625. Top speed 218 mph, range 1,800 miles, empty weight 11,250 lbs., loaded weight 19,200 lbs.

From the Aerodrome for GURPS