World War II Chronicle: June 27, 1941
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The monstrous Douglas XB-19 made its maiden flight today, lifting off from Santa Monica’s Clover Field and touching down in March Field (Calif.). The “Europe and Back” bomber prototype has a 212-foot wingspan, longer than today’s B-52 Stratofortress (185 feet) or a Boeing 747 (195 feet). Designers boasted it had a 5,000-mile combat range, meaning it could take off from the United States, bomb targets in occupied Europe, then return to the U.S. Ferry trips could cover well over 7,000 miles (New York City to Moscow is less than 5,000) and the plane could remain aloft for 55 hours.
Douglas’ insurance payments were just as big as their shiny new bomber. We typically pay insurance a month at a time but Douglas paid $82,000 for the first minute of its maiden flight alone. Premiums for the XB-19s $1 million policy dropped drastically after that.
The world’s largest and most powerful aircraft of its time was sure impressive on paper, but the B-19 never made it past the testing phase. By the time Douglas had the bugs worked out, the plane was obsolete and the war was over. Plans to convert the bomber into a cargo plane were eventually scrapped, and so was the B-19 since the Air Force had no museums in 1949. They did hide away two of the gargantuan tires, which are now on display at the National Museum of the Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (Ohio) and the Hill Aerospace Museum at Hill AFB (Utah).
Click here for the October 1940 edition of Popular Science, which features the B-19…
The Streak
Joe DiMaggio went 2-for-3 off Philadelphia Athletics hurler Chubby Dean, extending his hitting streak to 39, just four games away from “Wee” Willy Keeler’s record. DiMaggio hit a two-run home run with two outs in the seventh inning, walked twice, and got an outfield assist by throwing Dean out at second.
Dean, who also knocked in two runs as the A’s defeated the Yanks 7-6, is picked up by the Indians later in the season. Dean joins the service in 1943, playing baseball for Army Air Corps and serving in the Pacific Theater.
DiMaggio’s Record Chase (June 27, 1941)
- Willie Keeler 45 (1896-97)
- Bill Dahlen 42 (1894)
- George Sisler 41 (1922)
- Ty Cobb 40 (1911)
- Joe DiMaggio 39
Evening star. (Washington, D.C.), 27 June 1941. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1941-06-27/ed-1/