Boeing XAT-15 (Crewmaker)

Bomber-Crew Trainer Aircraft [ 1942 ]

The Boeing XAT-15 was planned as a Bomber-Crew Training platform but the original order for 1,000 aircraft was cancelled and just two prototypes were completed.

Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 06/08/2016 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site.

GO TO SPECIFICATIONS [+]

Advertisements

The increasing complexity of modern military bomber aircraft of the late-1930s and early-1940s, coupled with the threat of war in Europe and the Pacific, prompted the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) to seek out a dedicated bomber-trainer platform. Bombers of the day were seen with specialized stations for each crewman ranging from bombardier and navigator to radioman and machine gunner. Traditionally, the bombardier held the best view from the airplane, this at the nose, with the navigator usually close behind. The radioman was positioned somewhere aft of the cockpit and machine gun emplacements were set about the aircraft to provide a defense network against intercepting enemy fighters.

The Boeing XAT-15 became one candidate to fulfill the potentially lucrative USAAC deal for 1,000 aircraft. A twin-engine arrangement was selected to better train prospective pilots, copilots, and flight engineers on the nuisances of multi-engine operation and a deep fuselage was used to accommodate the crew and instructors. Internally there lay a bomb bay with a capacity for ten 100lb conventional drop bombs and four 0.30 caliber machine guns were fitted for practicing aerial defense against moving targets from a moving platform. The aircraft was given a high-wing monoplane form and single-rudder tail unit, the latter with low-set horizontal planes. The nose was partially glazed and a stepped cockpit arrangement used that overlooked the nose - the pilots given good views of each engine nacelle found along each wing leading edge. A tail-dragger, wheeled undercarriage was fitted and the engines of choice became 2 x Pratt & Whitney R-1340-AN-1 "Wasp" air-cooled radial piston units slung under the wings. The construction makeup of the aircraft involved welded steel tubing covered over in plywood - this necessitated by the scarcity of metals needed for the American war effort now underway.

First flight of an XAT-15 prototype occurred during 1942 and this became one of the earliest projects handed to the Wichita (Kansas) Division of Boeing (the facility formerly the Stearman Aircraft Company until 1939). Performance specs included a maximum speed of 207 miles per hour, a range out to 850 miles and a service ceiling up to 18,900 feet.

The XAT-15 initiative was eventually cancelled in light of the growing American commitment to World War 2 following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December of 1941. This left the XAT-15 low on the list of priorities for the USAAC which turned its attention to procurement of bombers of many kinds. Dedicated trainers were a luxury and training platforms were simply molded from existing bomber designs for expediency - leaving the XAT-15 without a role or buyer to be had.©MilitaryFactory.com

Note: The above text is EXCLUSIVE to the site www.MilitaryFactory.com. It is the product of many hours of research and work made possible with the help of contributors, veterans, insiders, and topic specialists. If you happen upon this text anywhere else on the internet or in print, please let us know at MilitaryFactory AT gmail DOT com so that we may take appropriate action against the offender / offending site and continue to protect this original work.

Specifications

Service Year

1942

Origin

United States

Crew

6

Production

8
UNITS

Boeing (Wichita Division) / Stearman Aircraft Company - USA

(View other Aviaton-Related Manufacturers)

United States (cancelled)

(OPERATORS list includes past, present, and future operators when applicable)

✓ Ground Attack (Bombing, Strafing)
Ability to conduct aerial bombing of ground targets by way of (but not limited to) guns, bombs, missiles, rockets, and the like.

✓ Training (General)
Developed ability to be used as a dedicated trainer for student pilots (typically under the supervision of an instructor).

Length

42.3 ft
(12.90 m)

Width/Span

59.7 ft
(18.20 m)

Height

9.8 ft
(3.00 m)

Empty Wgt

10,637 lb
(4,825 kg)

MTOW

14,352 lb
(6,510 kg)

Wgt Diff

+3,715 lb
(+1,685 kg)

(Showcased structural values pertain to the base Boeing XAT-15 (Crewmaker) production variant)

Installed: 2 x Pratt & Whitney R-1340-AN-1 "Wasp" radial piston engines developing 600 horsepower each.

Max Speed

208 mph
(335 kph | 181 kts)

Ceiling

18,898 ft
(5,760 m | 4 mi)

Range

851 mi
(1,370 km | 2,537 nm)

♦ MACH Regime (Sonic)

Sub

Trans

Super

Hyper

HiHyper

ReEntry

♦

(Showcased performance specifications pertain to the base Boeing XAT-15 (Crewmaker) production variant. Performance specifications showcased above are subject to environmental factors as well as aircraft configuration. Estimates are made when Real Data not available. Compare this aircraft entry against any other in our database or View aircraft by powerplant type)

PRACTICE ARMAMENT:

4 x 0.30 caliber Medium Machine Guns (MMGs)
10 x 100lb conventional drop bombs held in internal bomb bay.

Supported Types

Graphical image of an aircraft medium machine gun

Graphical image of an aircraft conventional drop bomb munition

(Not all ordnance types may be represented in the showcase above)

Hardpoint Mountings: 0

XAT-15 - Prototype Model Designation; two examples completed.

"Crewmaker" - Unofficial nickname

Military lapel ribbon for Operation Allied Force

Military lapel ribbon for the Arab-Israeli War

Military lapel ribbon for the Battle of Britain

Military lapel ribbon for the Battle of Midway

Military lapel ribbon for the Berlin Airlift

Military lapel ribbon for the Cuban Missile Crisis

Military lapel ribbon for pioneering aircraft

Military lapel ribbon for the Falklands War

Military lapel ribbon for the French-Indochina War

Military lapel ribbon for the Golden Age of Flight

Military lapel ribbon for the 1991 Gulf War

Military lapel ribbon for the Indo-Pak Wars

Military lapel ribbon for the Iran-Iraq War

Military lapel ribbon for the Korean War

Military lapel ribbon for the 1982 Lebanon War

Military lapel ribbon for the Malayan Emergency

Military lapel ribbon representing modern aircraft

Military lapel ribbon for the attack on Pearl Harbor

Military lapel ribbon for the Six Day War

Military lapel ribbon for the Soviet-Afghan War

Military lapel ribbon for the Spanish Civil War

Military lapel ribbon for the Suez Crisis

Military lapel ribbon for the Ukranian-Russian War

Military lapel ribbon for the Vietnam War

Military lapel ribbon for Warsaw Pact of the Cold War-era

Military lapel ribbon for the WASP (WW2)

Military lapel ribbon for the World War 1

Military lapel ribbon for the World War 2

Military lapel ribbon for the Yom Kippur War

Military lapel ribbon for experimental x-plane aircraft

Ribbon graphics not necessarily indicative of actual historical campaign ribbons. Ribbons are clickable to their respective aerial campaigns / operations / aviation periods.

Images Gallery

1 / 1

Image from the Public Domain.