The Atlantic Aircraft Corporation of Teterboro, New Jersey was the American subsidiary of the Holland-based Fokker aircraft manufacturing company. It manufactured some Fokker-designed commercial airliners in the United States. Among these were Fokker's series of pioneering high-winged monoplane airliners.
Atlantic submitted a monoplane design in response to a 1927 Army competition for a successor to the Martin-designed NBS-1 bomber. A single prototype was ordered under the designation XLB-2. The serial number was 26-210. The XLB-2 was developed from the Fokker series of monoplane transports, and had the distinction of being the first USAAC bomber designed as a monoplane. It was based primarily on the Fokker C-2 transport, which was the famous aircraft which had made the flight from Oakland, California to Wheeler Field, Hawaii on June 28-29, 1927.
The XLB-2 was powered by a pair of 410hp Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp radials suspended underneath the high cantilever wing. A crew of five was carried. The bombardier position was housed inside a glazed area in the lower nose. A pair of 0.5-inch machine guns were mounted in each of two open defensive gunner positions, one situated in the extreme nose and the other in a dorsal position on the upper rear fuselage. A single gun could be fired through a position in the lower rear fuselage. A 2050 pound load of bombs could be carried.
The aircraft was later fitted with a pair of 525 hp R-1690-1 radials, which raised the maximum speed from 116 mph to 123 mph. However, the performance of the XLB-2 was not much better than that of existing Army biplane bombers. In addition, the Army was quite reluctant at the time to consider such radical innovations as cantilever monoplane designs, and the XLB-2 was not ordered into production.
Specification of the Atlantic-Fokker XLB-2:
Two 410 hp Pratt & Whitney R-1340 air cooled radial engines. Maximum speed 116 mph at sea level, 112 mph at 5000 feet. Cruising speed 93 mph. Landing speed 67 mph. Service ceiling 10,925 feet, Absolute ceiling 13,400 feet. Initial climb rate 540 feet per minute. An altitude of 5000 feet could be attained in 11.5 minutes. Range 540 miles with 2052 pounds of bombs. Weights: 5916 pounds empty, 12,039 pounds gross. With two 525 hp Pratt & Whitney R-1690-1 air cooled radial engines, the performance figures were as follows: Maximum speed 123 mph at sea level. Service ceiling 13,700 feet. Initial climb rate 762 feet per minute. Range 650 miles with 2052 pounds of bombs. Weights: 5916 pounds empty, 12,039 pounds gross.
Wingspan 72 feet 10 inches, length 51 feet 5 inches, height 13 feet 3 inches, wing area 748 square feet.
Sources:
-
United States Military Aircraft Since 1909, Gordon Swanborough and
Peter M. Bowers, Smithsonian, 1989.
-
American Combat Planes, Ray Wagner, Third Edition, Doubleday, 1982.
- USAF Museum website, http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=2426
