PBNA B-38 Eclipsă

B-38 Eclipsă
A B-38 Eclipsă at an airfield, 1943
Role	Bomber
National origin	Pavulturilor
Manufacturer	Pavulturilori National Aviation Bureau
First flight	1937
Introduction	1938
Retired	1952
Primary user	Pavulturilori Air Force
Number built	72
Developed from	Maroto B-2

The B-38 Eclipsă was a Pavulturilori twin-engine bomber and reconnaissance aircraft with a wood and metal structure that saw service in the Royal Pavulturilori Air Force and was used in several conflicts from its introduction in 1938 until its retierment in 1952.

Development

Even during the development of the B-37 Răsărit, the Kingdom of Pavulturilor sought the capabilities of a heavy bomber, and during the spring of 1936, have started to negotiate the purchase of the blueprints of the Maroto B-2 from the Catholic Imperial Restoration Council, the negotiations have prolonged all the way up to early to mid 1937, as the imperial council wanted to add 30 Maroto B-2's, by mid 1937 that number was reduced to 20, and the deal was signed at the price of 5,750,000 QSC.

The blueprints were studied by the Pavulturilori National Aviation Bureau and eventually resulted in the design of the B-38 Eclipsă. The 20 B-2's were scrapped and used to make the first batch of B-38's, the other batches produced were given the pavulturilori Lumo 211F engine

Variants

• B-38 Eclipsă.A - initial production variant with the Reyes B-2 engine, 20 produced.

• B-38 Eclipsă.B - intended production variant with the Lumo 211F engine, 52 produced.

Specifications (B-38 Eclipsă.B)

General characteristics

• Crew: 5
• Length: 16.82 m (55 ft 2 in)
• Wingspan: 21.2 m (69 ft 7 in)
• Height: 4.1 m (13 ft 5 in) tail down
• Wing area: 60.6 m² (652 sq ft)
• Airfoil: root: NACA 2418; tip: NACA 2412
• Empty weight: 6,400 kg (14,110 lb)
• Gross weight: 11,785 kg (25,981 lb)
• Powerplant: 2 × Lumo 211F V-12 inverted liquid-cooled piston engines, 980 kW (1,320 hp) each
• Propellers: 3-bladed constant-speed propellers

Performance

• Maximum speed: 436 km/h (271 mph, 235 kn) at 6,000 m (19,685 ft)
• Range: 1,750 km (1,090 mi, 940 nmi)
• Ferry range: 1,900 km (1,200 mi, 1,000 nmi)
• Endurance: 5 hours
• Service ceiling: 9,000 m (30,000 ft)
  
• Take-off run: 400 m (1,300 ft)
• Landing run: 350 m (1,150 ft)

Armament

• Guns:
  
  • 5 x 7.92 mm machine guns
  • 1 x 20 mm cannon
• Bombs: 1500 kg of bombs

See Also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

• Maroto B-2
• Maroto B-3