B-32 production - a huge effort which turned out to be unneeded. Photo from: Lockheed Martin

The third XB-32 prototype. The B-32 had serious stability probems and this airframe was first flown with double tailfins, then with a borrowed B-29 tailfin and finally with the enormous definitive tailfin seen here which was six metres tall. Photo from: San Diego Air & Space Museum

The second prototype of the B-32, sporting traditional striped rudders. This machine first flew on 2 July 1943, after the crash of the first XB-32 on 10 May 1943. Because of continuing stability problems, the third XB-32 was fitted with a B-29 tailfin and then a Consolidated-designed single fin. Photo from: US Air Force

Sold for scrap in 1946. Photo from: National Archives at College Park, Maryland

The photo shows one of the few B-32 Dominators thrown into combat. The aircraft flew its first combat mission with the 386th Bomb Squadron on 13 June 1945. On 28 August it flew a photo recce mission over Tokyo to check if the terms of the Japanese surrender were being observed, including the removal of propellers from Japanese aircraft. Suffering two malfunctioning engines the crew bailed out on the way back to Okinawa. Two men perished and 42-108528 was possibly the last American aircraft lost on an operational mission in World War II. Photo by: Harold Corsini / Historic Pittsburgh

The first Dominator of the B-32-30-CF version. All fourteen B-32-30CFs and B-32-35-CFs were flown straight to Kingman, Arizona and scrapped. Photo from: Lockheed Martin

The B team. The B-32 Dominator was built as a backup for the preferred B-29 Superfortress. 115 B-32s were completed, including 40 TB-32 trainers. A few B-32s flew combat missions over Japan, but others were scrapped brand new after VJ Day. Photo from: Lockheed Martin