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The Consolidated XB2Y-1 was a design for a dive bomber produced for the US Navy, but that didn't get past the prototype stage.
In 1932 the Navy's Bureau of Aeronautics drew up a specification for a two-seat biplane dive-bomber capable of carrying a 1,000lb bomb (Design No.110). Consolidated's submission was produced by B. Douglas Thomas, whose Thomas-Morse Aircraft company had been purchased by Consolidated in 1929.
Thomas produced a strong biplane, powered by a 700hp Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp XR-1535-64 fourteen cylinder air cooled radial. The aircraft needed to be able to resist 9G during the pull-out from dives, so the centre section was constructed from a solid steel block (presumably hollowed out to the correct shape). This produced a very strong but also very expensive component. The aircraft had a fixed undercarriage. The lower wing was attached to the base of the fuselage, the upper wing was carried just above it. The crew of two sat in open cockpits behind the wings. The bomb was carried on a trapeze below the fuselage, and as a result it used a split undercarriage.
The XB2Y-1 (Consolidated Model 24) was delivered on 28 June 1933. It competed with the Great Lakes XBG-1, a similar biplane. The Great Lakes aircraft won the contest, and eventually 61 were built.
Soon afterwards Thomas resigned from Consolidated and the Thomas-Morse subsidiary disappeared. Work continued on the XB2Y-1, which was modified into a 'scout' configuration. This involved removing the bomb trapeze and the belly tank and a modification to the cowling. With these changes the service ceiling rose to 23,400ft, an increase of 600ft.
Engine: Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp XR-1535-64 fourteen cylinder air cooled radial
Power: 700hp
Crew: 2
Span: 36ft 6in
Length: 27ft 11in
Height: 10ft 10in
Empty Weight: 3,538lb
Gross Weight: 6,255lb
Maximum Speed: 182mph at 8,900ft
Cruising Speed:
Climb rate: 12,200ft in 10 minutes
Ceiling: 22,800ft
Range: 487 miles
Guns: One fixed and one flexibly mounted 0.30in machine gun
Bomb load: 1,000lb under fuselage