Douglas Boston I

The Douglas Boston I was the designation given to 20 Douglas DB-7 bombers originally ordered by France, but that entered service with the RAF. They came from the first French order, for 100 aircraft powered by the 1,000hp Pratt & Whitney R-1830-SC3-G engine with a single speed supercharge (or for the first aircraft from the second French order, which also had to be built with the same engine).

Boston I AE458
Boston I AE458

When these aircraft reached Britain in the late summer of 1940 sixteen of them were found to be from a batch that had been allocated to the Belgian Air Force. All twenty aircraft needed modifications to their instrumentation and controls, not least because French throttles worked in the opposite way to British throttles – moving the throttle forward closed it on French aircraft, but opened it on British.

The Boston I was not considered suitable for combat operations, and all twenty were used as training aircraft. It lacked the fuel capacity to act as a bomber from British bases, while the single speed supercharger meant it lacked the performance for the night fighter role.

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How to cite this article: Rickard, J (5 September 2008), Douglas Boston I , http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_douglas_boston_I.html

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