This MedLibrary.org supplementary page on Medium bomber is provided directly from the open source Wikipedia as a service to our readers. Please see the note below on authorship of this content, as well as the Wikipedia usage guidelines. To search for other content from our encyclopedia supplement, please use the form below:
Related Sponsors
A medium bomber is a bomber aircraft designed to operate with medium bombloads over medium distances; primarily to distinguish them from the much larger heavy bombers and smaller light bombers. The term was used primarily prior to and during World War II, when engine power was so scarce that designs had to be carefully tailored to their missions. The medium bomber was generally considered to be any design that delivered about 4,000 lb (1.8 t) over ranges of about 1,500 to 2,000 miles (2,400 to 3,200 km). Heavy bombers were those with a nominal load of 8,000 lb (3.6 t) or more, and light bombers carried 2,000 lb (0.9 t) loads. These distinctions were already disappearing by the middle of WWII, when the average fighter aircraft could now carry a 2,000 lb (0.9 t) load and ever more powerful engines allowed "light" designs to largely take over the missions formerly filled by mediums.
After the war the term disappeared from use almost instantly. Although a number of aircraft were designed in this performance range, they were now almost universally referred to as tactical bombers instead. Famous examples of post-war mediums include the English Electric Canberra (and its US counterpart, the Martin B-57) and Ilyushin Il-28 Beagle.
Examples
- Heinkel He 111, considered a heavy by the Luftwaffe
- Junkers Ju 88
- B-25 Mitchell
- B-26 Marauder
- Handley Page Hampden - similar bomb load to the Wellington but nearly as fast as a Bristol Blenheim light bomber
- Vickers Wellington
- Bristol Beaufort - torpedo bomber, used more often as mine layer.
- English Electric Canberra - post war jet bomber
- Martin B-57 - US development of the Canberra
- Ilyushin Il-28
- Savoia-Marchetti SM.79
|
||||||||||||||
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 14 November 2008, at 07:13.
Wikipedia Authorship and Review
Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.
Wikipedia Usage Guidelines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Medium bomber".
The URL for this specific entry is:
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.