Douglas B-23 Dragon

Douglas proposed a number of modifications designed to improve the performance of the B-18. Initially considered a redesign, the XB-22 featured 1,600 hp Wright R-2600-1 Twin Cyclone radial engines. The complete B-18 redesign was considered promising enough by the USAAC to alter the original contract to produce the last 38 B-18As ordered under Contract AC9977 as the B-23. The tail gun was a .50 caliber (12.7 mm) machine gun, which was fired from the prone position by a gunner using a telescopic sight. The first B-23 flew on July 27, 1939 with the production series of 38 B-23s manufactured between July 1939 and September 1940. ==Operational history==

While significantly faster and better armed than the B-18, the B-23 was not comparable to newer medium bombers like the North American B-25 Mitchell and Martin B-26 Marauder. For this reason, the 38 B-23s built were never used in combat overseas, although for a brief period they were employed as patrol aircraft stationed on the west coast of the United States. After World War II, many examples were used as executive transports, with appropriate internal modifications, and as a result a large number have survived, both in public and private collections. Howard Hughes (among others) used converted B-23s as personal aircraft. ==Variants==

;B-23 :Twin-engined bomber version of the B-18 with modified fuselage, 38 built. ;C-67 :Conversion to utility transport with provision for glider towing, 12 conversions from B-23, redesignated UC-67 in 1943. ;UC-67 :C-67 redesignated in 1943. ==Operators==

; • United States Army Air Corps ==Accidents and incidents==

• On 29 January 1943, a B-23 crash landed on Loon Lake near McCall, Idaho after getting lost in a snowstorm. After waiting at the crash site for five days, three of the crew hiked out to search for help. The five survivors that remained at the crash site were spotted by a passing airplane and rescued eleven days later. The three who hiked out reached a ranger station where they were able to call for help and were recovered on February 17th. ==Surviving aircraft==

Ecuador • 39-031 – UC-67 on static display at the Aeronautical and Space Museum of the Ecuadorian Air Force in Quito. United States • 39-0033 – B-23 under restoration with ATW Aviation in Marana, Arizona. • 39-0036 – B-23 on static display at the McChord Air Museum at McChord Field near Lakewood, Washington. • 39-0037 – B-23 in storage at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio. • 39-0038 – B-23 in storage at the National Warplane Museum in Geneseo, New York. • 39-0047 – UC-67 on static display at the Castle Air Museum in Atwater, California. • 39-0051 – B-23 on static display at the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona. • 39-0057 – B-23 in storage at Fantasy of Flight in Polk City, Florida. • 39-0063 – B-23 airworthy with private owner in Anchorage, Alaska. ==Specifications (B-23 Dragon)==