PV-1 Ventura in Action

Although their contribution to the Allied victory in World War II has been grossly neglected by aero-hlstorlans, a review ot the record reveals that the Lockheed PV-i Ven­tura was a dependable, fast, hard-hitting attacker who's abilities exceeded Its 'P-for-Patror designation. From early 1943 until war's end In 1945. Venturas ranged the vast Pacific - from the Aleutians to Australia and westward to the home islands ot the Japanese Empire Itself. Hostility toward the Ventura, born of inadequate training during the initial introduction of this demanding high-performance airplane, quickly gave way to full and unqualified acceptance by flight crews and operational commanders. The Ven­tura's reputation as an airplane that couW be depended upon to bring her crews back home was quickly established and continued to grow.
The Ventura was emphatically not. as has been implied in some sources/a warmed-over, enlarged Hudson The British Purchasing Commission, searching for a replacement for their aging Coastal Command Hudsons. requested Lockheed lo undertake the project, basing the new airplane on the commercial Model 18 Lodestar design (as the Hudson had been based upon the smaller Model 14), utilizing the maximum amount of existing tooling. The resemblance between the Hudson and the Ventura was due to their having been designed by the same team.