Comments by "" (@RedXlV) on "The Douglas XB-43 Jetmaster; America’s First Jet Bomber" video.

  1. As you can see at 2:04 the Mixmaster was also at one point upgraded to mixed propulsion (highly appropriate, given its name) with the contra-rotating pusher props retained but with a small turbojet hung under each wing. This was the XB-42A. As for replacing the side-by-side canopies with a single canopy for both crew? That's what was done with the 2nd XB-42 prototype. It doesn't seem to have ever been done with either XB-43 prototype. Probably because by the time they worked out that the single canopy was a better setup, it was clear that the XB-43 would only be a testbed rather than an operation combat aircraft, so it would've been a waste of time to make changes like that.
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  2. The AN/M2 weighs 62 lb, while the faster-firing AN/M3 weighs 65 lb. (The latter would've been what the Jetmaster would've likely carried had it entered service.) Both are a good deal lighter than the 84 lb ground-based M2, since you don't need as heavy a barrel when it's constantly being cooled by airflow. So the guns would combined weigh 1,040 lb. Strafing-configured medium bombers during WW2 usually carried 400 rounds per gun. A 100 round .50 BMG belt weighs about 22 lb. So that's 1,408 lb of ammo. Seems to me that when your guns and ammo literally weigh over a ton, you might as well be using 20mm cannons instead of machine guns.
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