Military Propellor Planes
North American O-47
ICAO: O47
Overview
The North American AJ Savage was developed by North American Aviation as a carrier-based medium bomber intended for the United States Navy. It was built soon after the Second World War to carry nuclear weapons and was fitted with two piston engines and a turbojet. The aircraft was introduced in 1950 and was retired in 1960. A total of 140 aircraft were built, and three prototypes.
Live Fleet Activity (AJ)
📡
Fetching live data…
Specifications
Units
- Engine
- 2 × Pratt & Whitney R-2800-44W Double Wasp
- Engine type
- Piston
- Power
- 2 × 2,400 hp · 1,790 kW
- Avionics
- —
- Wing tips
- No winglets
- Seats
- 3
- Crew
- —
- Cabin width
- —
- Cabin height
- —
- Cabin length
- —
- Exterior length
- 63 ft 1 in · 19.22 m
- Tail height
- 20 ft 4 in · 6.20 m
- Fuselage diameter
- 6 ft 7 in · 2.00 m
- Wing span
- 75 ft 6 in · 23.00 m
- Baggage volume
- —
- Gross weight
- —
- Empty weight
- —
- Max takeoff weight
- 51,000 lb · 23,100 kg
- Max landing weight
- —
- Max payload
- 13,200 lb · 6,000 kg
- Fuel capacity
- 1,640 gal · 6,200 L · 4,500 kg (AvGas)
- Max cruise speed
- 409 kt · 471 mph · 757 km/h
- Maximum speed
- —
- Cruise speed
- —
- Approach speed
- —
- Range
- 1,504 nm · 1,730 mi · 2,790 km
- Fuel burn
- —
- Ceiling
- 43,000 ft · 13,100 m
- Rate of climb
- 2,900 ft/min · 15 m/s
- Takeoff distance
- —
- Landing distance
- —
Gallery
(/)
tap to zoom
(/)
Live fleet activity details
📡
Operational Context
On July 3, 1948, the first prototype XAJ-1 performed its maiden flight. The initial production version AJ-1 can accommodate three crew members. It has an external length of 19.22 meters, an external height of 3.5 meters, a tail height of 6.25 meters and 4.9 meters with fin folded, and a width of 15.39 meters with wings folded. It has a high-wing with a wingspan of 21.75 meters without tip tanks and 23 meters with tip tanks and a wing area of 77.61 square meters.
The aircraft is fitted with a tricycle landing gear and has a wheelbase of 6 meters. The aircraft has an empty weight of 12,500 kg, a gross weight of 21,319 kg, and a maximum payload of 6,000 kg. The maximum takeoff weight is 23,112 kg. It has a fuel tank capacity of 1,640 US gal.
The AJ-1 is powered by two Pratt and Whitney R-2800-44W Double Wasp eighteen-cylinder air-cooled twin-row radial piston engine with water injection. It has two poppet valves per cylinder, a variable-speed single-stage single-speed centrifugal-type supercharger, one Stromberg injection carburetor fuel system, and an air cooling system. The Pratt and Whitney engines produce a maximum takeoff thrust of 2,400 lbf each.
The aircraft is also powered by a single Allison J33-A-10 centrifugal compressor turbojet in the tail end of the fuselage. It has a single-stage double-sided centrifugal compressor, fourteen can type stainless steel combustion chambers, a single-stage axial turbine, and a wet sump oil system. The Allison engine produces a maximum takeoff thrust of 4,600 lbf. The aircraft also featured four-bladed Hamilton Standard constant-speed propellers of 4.42 meters in diameter. This engine was only utilized during takeoff and when an extra speed boost was needed.
The AJ Savage has a maximum speed of 409 knots and a travel range of 1,504 nautical miles. It can fly up to 40,800 feet and can climb at a rate of 2,900 feet per minute. The aircraft could be loaded with 5,400 kg of conventional bombs or one Mark 4 implosion-type nuclear bomb.
Sources and references used for research and fact-checking.