This page documents a history of a specific aircraft. Search - Index - Gallery - Reports - Lists - AV Needs You! Image source: Visuals - Airframe Dossier - Lockheed PV-2 Harpoon, s/n 37524 USN, c/n 15-0490, c/r N20PV A number of the aircraft still survive today in both airworthy and display-only conditions. A number were scrapped, some were given away to foreign nations during and after the war.

When the Harpoons were finally shipped, it went as the PV-2D model, and these aircraft designs proved reliable and popular with the crews that used them.Īfter the war, the Venturas and its variants were eventually declared obsolete.

Another redesign was needed, delaying the introduction into the Navy until early 1945, with the ones already delivered converted for training purposes as the PV-2C. The PV-2's design had a shaky start, issues with the wings wrinkling came off as dangerously problematic. A few were also given to the Marine Corps fighter squadron VMF(N)-531 at the Solomon Islands. The PV-1 usually accompanied B-24s due to having a more sophisticated radar system. The PV-1 was operated by three squadrons in the Pacific Theatre and flew bombing strikes against Japan. The PV-2C and PV-2T models were models built for training. The original PV-2 had five forward armaments whereas the PV-2D updated it with eight forward guns. More than 500 Harpoons were built in the course of the war, with several variants. The redesigned aircraft was accepted by the USN as the PV-2 Harpoon. This allowed the aircraft to carry not only up to 4,000 lb of bombs but even rockets under the wings. The Ventura design was modified with an increased wing area in order to improve take-off and load-carrying capability. The PV-1 was an adequate bomber but provided some weaknesses needed addressing, most notably in that the increased fuel weight made it difficult to take-off without problems. The first PV-1s arrived in December 1942, then entered naval service in February 1943. The adapted Venturas were adopted under the designation PV-1 Ventura for the navy, with special equipment for patrol bombing, increased fuel storage along with a decrease in forward defensive armaments, and the addition of search radar. The Lockheed Ventura bomber, an aircraft the USN had an eye for, was converted for their usage. It wasn't until a compromise with the B-29 Superfortress in a naval manufacturing factory that the Army finally gave the Navy the aircraft and jurisdiction to act in their roles. The USAAF had a monopoly on manufacturing and command of land-based bombers, leading to naval activities such as anti-submarine duties with bombers shouldered by the USAAF rather than the USN, forcing the usage of float planes like the Catalina in the Navy's role. America's usage of the B-34 Lexington was complicated with a feud in air power between the USAAF and the US Navy (USN). Though the Ventura was faster and could hold twice as many bombs than the Hudson, the Royal Air Force did not like the plane very much and replaced them with Mosquitoes, the surplus Venturas sent to Coastal Command. The Royal Air Force adopted the plane under the Ventura name, and the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) adopted it as the B-34 Lexington.

Though similar to the Hudson, the Ventura was a lot bigger. After the success of the Lockheed Hudson, Lockheed sought to introduce another bomber named the Ventura based off their Model 18 Lodestar transport aircraft.

Pv 2 harpoon