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Subject: Vultee A-31 Vengeance
Date: 12 Oct 2016 21:53:24 -0700
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vultee_A-31_Vengeance
The Vultee A-31 Vengeance was an American dive bomber of World War II, built by
Vultee Aircraft. A modified version was designated A-35. The Vengeance was not
used operationally by the United States, but was operated as a front-line
aircraft by the British Royal Air Force, the Royal Australian Air Force, and the
Indian Air Force in Southeast Asia and the Southwest Pacific. The A-31 remained
in service with U.S. units until 1945, primarily in a target-tug role.
In 1940, Vultee Aircraft started the design of a single engined dive-bomber, the
The V-72 was built with private funds and was intended for sale to foreign
markets. The V-72 was a low-wing, single-engine monoplane with a closed cockpit
and a crew of two. An air-cooled radial Wright Twin Cyclone GR-2600-A5B-5 engine
rated at 1,600 hp (1,200 kW) powered the V-72. It was armed with both fixed
forward-firing and flexible-mounted .30 in (7.62 mm) machine guns in the rear
cockpit. The aircraft also carried up to 1,500 lb (680 kg) of bombs in an
interior bomb bay and on external wing racks.
After the U.S. entered the war following the attack on Pearl Harbor, a number of
V-72 and A-31 aircraft were repossessed for use by the Army Air Corps. As the
Army Air Corps became interested in dive bombing, it decided to order production
of an improved version of the Vengeance, designated the A-35, for both its own
use and for supply to its allies under Lend-Lease. It was fitted with a more
powerful Wright Twin Cyclone R-2600-19 engine and improved armament. As US Army
test pilots disliked the poor pilot view resulting from the zero-incidence wing,
this was "corrected" in the A-35, giving a better attitude in cruise but losing
its accuracy as a dive bomber.
Role
Dive bomber
National origin
United States
Manufacturer
Vultee Aircraft
First flight
30 March 1941
Retired
September 1944
Primary users
United States
United Kingdom
Australia
Number built
1,931
In combat, the type was considered rugged, reliable, stable, and generally
well-behaved. Commonwealth forces operated the type from May 1942 to July 1944.
Burma tended to be a low priority for Allied air planners, and forces in that
theater got what was left over. Aircraft such as the Vickers Wellington and
Hawker Hurricane spent their last days in Burma. The Vengeance saw considerable
action attacking Japanese supply, communications and troop concentrations in
Burma. Its service in that theater has been described as sterling. At best, the
Vengeance was a qualified success in Burma, doing much to hold the line against
Japanese advances.
Peter Smith, author of Jungle Dive Bombers at War (ISBN 0-7195-4425-4), recorded
that:
"Their pilots had difficulty in getting them off the ground with a full load. At
Newton Field they were using the full length of the 6,000 feet runway before
becoming airborne. Kittyhawk aircraft could carry the same bomb load and in
addition carry out ground-strafing.
In contrast, many crew spoke well of the Vengeance.
"I certainly didn't have that experience of the Vultee. I can recall no
incidents of pilots having difficulty in taking off with full bomb loads, and
the Kittyhawk could not carry the same bomb load even after their undercarriage
had been strengthened. I remember the Vultee as a lovely aircraft to fly, an
aircraft that was hard to stall and was fully aerobatic. You could do anything
in them, rolls, loops, stall turns, and there was enough room in the cockpit to
hold a ball. I used to like flying them, although a lot of blokes thought that
they were too cumbersome.
Specifications (Vengeance I)
General characteristics
Crew: 2 (pilot, navigator/gunner)
Length: 39 ft 9 in (12.12 m)
Wingspan: 48 ft 0 in (14.63 m)
Height: 15 ft 4 in (4.67 m)
Empty weight: 9,725 lb (4,411 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 14,300 lb (6,486 kg)
engine, 1,600 hp (1,193 kW)
Performance
Maximum speed: 275 mph (239 kn, 443 km/h) at 11,000 ft (3,350 m)
Cruise speed: 235 mph (204 kn, 378 km/h)
Range: 1,400 miles (1,220 nmi, 2,253 km)
Service ceiling: 22,500 ft (6,860 m)
Power/mass: 0.11 hp/lb (0.18 kW/kg)
Armament
Guns:
cockpit
Bombs:
*
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