PV Ventura

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Ventura SAAF 21 Squadron Zwartkop Air Station

21 Squadron SAAF Zwartkop Air Station

B-34 41-38206 M-127, Midland Army Airfield, Texas

B-34 4426

B-34 Ventura

B-34 Ventura crashed

B-34 Ventura II on Airfield

B-37 Lexington

Brazilian Air Force Receives PV-1 Ventura

crew members of VPB-135 pose by their PV-1

Crew members of VPB-135 pose by their PV at their Aleutian base after raid on Japanese bases in the Kuriles 1944

Fleet Air Wing 4 Dog Big Mooch Completes 4 Missions over Japan 1944

Fueling VB-135 PV-1 Venturas Attu Island 5may1944

ground crew loading bombs onto a Ventura bomb bay

Gunner carries .50 caliber machine gun ammo

PV-2 waiting for action against the Kuril Islands 9apr5

Harpoon "24" waiting for action against the Kuril Islands 9 April 1945

Harpoon fitted with mounts for HVAR rockets beneath the wing

Harpoon in US Navy three-tone camouflage

Harpoon Iwo Jima April 1945

Harpoons of the of the VPB-139

Interior View of Lockheed PV-1 Ventura NAS Opa Locka 1943

Locheed Ventura AE748

Lockheed B-34

Lockheed Ventura Leaving Factory 1941

Navy PV-1 Ventura Patrol Bomber in Flight

No. 21 Squadron RAF

No. 21 Squadron RAF

North Pacific 1945

Officers pictured next to a PV-1 Ventura Alaska 1944

Officers pictured next to a PV-1 Ventura "19" Alaska 1944

PBY and PV-1 Venturas FAW-4 on Attu Island 1943

PV Alaska

PV April 17 1945

PV RAF

PV Ventura

PV-1 1944

PV-1 at Vega Aircraft Plant in Burbank

PV-1 Bougainville 1st MAW 1944

PV-1 Dropping Training Torpedo near NAS Banana River June 1943

PV-1 FAW-4 Adak Island Aleutians

PV-1 FAW-4 Amchikta Island

PV-1 FAW-4 Amchikta Island Aleutians

PV-1 FAW-4 Crash Landing Amchitka

PV-1 FAW-4 on Attu Island After Blizzard 20nov1943

PV-1 FAW-4 on Attu Island After Blizzard 20 November 1943

PV-1 FAW-4 over Adak Island Aleutians

PV-1 from VB-125-B-6

PV-1 Munda Strip New Georgia 1943

PV-1 of the United States-Brazil Air Training Unit

PV-1 of the United States-Brazil Air Training Unit 1944

PV-1 South Pacific

PV-1 Ventura

PV-1 Ventura 10

PV-1 Ventura Cockpit NAS Opa Locka 1943

PV-1 Ventura Formation Off Florida Coast 1943

PV-1 Ventura in flight 1943

PV-1 Ventura in flight in late 1943

PV-1 Ventura on Deck of USS Kasaan Bay January 1944

PV-1 Ventura Patrol Bombers 1943

PV-1 Ventura Wreck at Tacloban Leyte November 1944

PV-2

PV-2 1800 lb torpedo

PV-2 April 10, 1945

PV-2 April 17, 1945

PV-2 April 4 1945

PV-2 April 4, 1945

PV-2 fuel tank and rockets on launchers

PV-2 Harpoon

PV-2 Harpoon Patuxent River September 22 1944

PV-2 Harpoon Patuxent River September 22, 1944

RAAF Crew with Ventura SB-S

RAF Ventura GR V

RAF Ventura YH-A 1943

RNZAF PV Emirau 1944

RNZAF Ventura NZ4638 2 Squadron Green Island

Soviet PV-1

US Ventura II 4527

PV-1 Ventura USS Kasaan Bay at Alameda January 1944

USS Kasaan Bay CVE-69 at Alameda January 1944

Vega Aircraft Corporation, Burbank

Ventura 1 Sqn RNZAF 1943

Ventura 1943

Ventura 464 Sqn

Ventura 464 Squadron Methwold 1942

Ventura Aboard USS Kasaan Bay CVE-69 January 1944

Ventura AE774 YH-V

Ventura AE854 SB-J RAAF 1943

Ventura AE956

Ventura and crew 464 Sqn 1943

Ventura at Attu Island March 1944

Ventura BOMBED UP

Ventura Bombing Up

VPB-135 PV-1 Ventura and Crew at Attu Island 5May 1944

Ventura BuNo 48891 and Crew at Attu Island 5 May 1944

Ventura GR Mk V FN957, May 1943

Ventura II AJ362

Ventura interior

Ventura interior RAF

Ventura JT894

Ventura JT894 521 Sqn

Ventura May 1943

Ventura Mk I AE658

Ventura Mk I AE658 1st Aircraft Built at Lockheed Vega Plant 1941

Ventura Mk I AE658 Burbank 1941

Ventura Mk I AE661

Ventura Mk I AE748

Ventura Mk I Bombing Up

Ventura NZ4518 1943

Ventura NZ4625 2 Squadron taxiing in the dispersal area at Green Island

Ventura NZ4632

Ventura of No 464 Squadron RAAF Attacking Flushing Holland 1943

PV Ventura Taking Off from an Aleutian Airfield 44

Ventura of VB-136 Taking Off from an Aleutian Airfield 1944

PV-1 Ventura on Deck of Kasaan Bay jan1944

Ventura on Deck of USS Kasaan Bay January 1944

Ventura RAF

Ventura refueling

Ventura roll out

Ventura s/n 4139

Ventura SB-O Flight Crew Raaf 464 Sqn Methwold

Venturas Alameda California January 1943

Venturas Amchikta Island Aleutians dec43

Venturas at Amchikta Island Aleutians December 1943

Venturas of No. 21 Squadron RAF

Venturas of No. 21 Squadron RAF in flight

Venturas Oxford at RNZAF Station Whenuapai 1943

Venturas Station Whenuapai 1943

VPB-135 Crew Prepares for a Mission from Attu Island 5 May 1944

VPB-135 PV-1 Ventura and Crew Gear Up at Attu Island 5 May 1944

Workmen perform final checks on a PV-1 Burbank

In February 1940, the British Purchase Mission in the US proposed to Lockheed Aircraft Corporation to develop a new patrol aircraft for Coastal Command coastal defense aviation based on the Model 18 Lodestar, ordering 25 aircraft immediately. The company had extensive experience with this kind of modernization. In 1938, a Hudson patrol aircraft was developed based on the Super Electra passenger plane, subsequently built in large numbers and widely used during World War II. So work began on the design of a new aircraft designated Model 39.A little trouble was caused by the English demand for maximum unification of the Model 39 with the Hudson aircraft, but this was to accelerate the implementation into production. High-powered Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp engines were installed on the aircraft, as well as new wide-bladed propellers, most favorable for low- and medium-altitude flight, where naval patrol aircraft mostly operated. The aircraft received a strong defensive armament consisting of 8 7.69 mm cal. machine guns: 2 movable in the nose section of the fuselage in the navigator’s station, an additional 2 non-movable above it, 2 movable in the Boulton-Paul gunner’s turret on the back of the fuselage and 2 on the gunner’s station in a specially formed protrusion under the tail section of the fuselage. The aircraft carried 1800 kg of bombs or depth charges. Compared with the Hudson aircraft, the new plane, which was named Ventura in the UK, had a longer range and considerably higher speed. In May 1940, the British had already placed an order for 300 exemplars of the Ventura Mk.I version.

General Specifications

Type: Twin-engined patrol bomber.

Wings

Configuration: Mid-wing cantilever monoplane.
Construction: The centre-section is integral with the fuselage, featuring a main spar and front and rear shear beams, with Alclad skin reinforced by corrugated sheets and stringers. The outer wings include detachable tips, single spars, and sheet ribs, covered in Alclad skin, reinforced by corrugations on the upper surface and stringers on the lower surface. Features all-metal ailerons with controllable trim-tabs and fixed slots in the leading-edge ahead of the ailerons. Fowler flaps extend over 34% of the trailing-edge.

Fuselage

Structure: All-metal elliptical-section monocoque, built with bulkheads, frames, longitudinal members, and flush-riveted Alclad skin.

Tail Unit

Configuration: Cantilever monoplane type with twin fins and rudders.
Construction: All-metal, with a tailplane consisting of a centre-section, two outer sections, and two semi-circular tips. Fin and rudder assemblies are interchangeable between left and right sides. Trim-tabs are present in the elevators and rudders.

Landing Gear

Type: Retractable with Aerol shock-absorber units retracting into the tails of the engine nacelles. Features interchangeable units with minor adjustments, hydraulic retraction, Goodyear wheels, and hydraulic brakes. Also includes a retractable tail-wheel.

Power Plant

Engines: Two 2,000 h.p. Pratt & Whitney R-2800-31 eighteen-cylinder radial air-cooled engines with two-speed superchargers.
Propellers: Three-blade Hamilton-Standard Hydromatic broad-blade constant-speed airscrews, 10 ft. 7 in. (3.23 m.) diameter.
Fuel System: Comprises four tanks in the centre-section, two in the outer sections, two cabin tanks, and provisions for external droppable tanks and long-range ferry tanks in the bomb-bay. All tanks are self-sealing.
Oil System: Main oil tanks in each nacelle with reserve tanks in the fuselage.

Accommodation

Crew: Four members, including a pilot, navigator/bomb-aimer, radio operator/gunner, and turret gunner.

Armament

Fixed Guns: Two 0.50 cal. machine-guns in the nose.
Turret Guns: Two 0.50 cal. guns in a Martin electrically-operated dorsal turret.
Tunnel Guns: Two 0.30 cal. guns.
Bomb Bay: Internal bay accommodating up to 2,500 lbs. of bombs, six 325 lb. depth-charges, or one standard 22 in. short aircraft torpedo. External stations can carry two 500 lb. bombs or two depth-charges in place of external wing tanks.

Dimensions

Span: 65 ft. 6 in. (19.96 m)
Length: 51 ft. 7 in. (15.74 m)
Height: 14 ft. 1 in. (4.31 m)
Wing Area: 551 sq. ft. (51.2 sq. m.) with flaps retracted, 619 sq. ft. (57.5 sq. m.) with flaps fully lowered

Weights

Empty Weight: 19,373 lbs. (8,795 kg)
Normal Loaded Weight: 26,500 lbs. (12,030 kg)
Maximum Overloaded Weight: 31,000 lbs. (14,075 kg)

Performance

Maximum Speed: Over 300 mph (480 km/h)
Service Ceiling: Over 25,000 ft. (7,625 m)
Range: Over 1,000 miles (1,600 km)