Vultee A-31 / A-35 Vengeance

1940

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  DIVE BOMBERVirtual Aircraft Museum / USA / Vultee  

Vultee A-31 / A-35 Vengeance

The Vultee Model 72 two-seat dive bomber was designed to a British specification by Vultee and was put into production by both Vultee and Northrop. When the US entered the war, the Vengeance was given the USAAF designation A-31.

Vengeance I deliveries to Britain began in 1942 and these, like later Vengeance II and Ill, were powered by the 1,192.3kW Wright R-2600-19 Cyclone radial engine. British armament and equipment consisted of four 7.7mm machine-guns in the wings and two on a flexible mounting in the rear cockpit. Eventually the USAAF ordered the Vengeance II as the A-31A but in the event received only a few for non-operational use. The RAAF also received some early Vengeance I.

The A-35 version of the Vengeance was powered by a 1,267kW Wright R-2600-13 engine and was ordered by the USAAF. The first 100 delivered retained the earlier 7.7mm guns. With four 12.7mm guns fitted they became A-35A. The A-35B was the first fully American version fitted with US equipment and six 12.7mm wing guns as standard. Eight hundred and thirty one were built: 562 were supplied to Britain as Vengeance IV, a small number were delivered to the Brazilian government, and the rest went into USAAF service.

The Vengeance was used operationally only by the RAF and the Royal Indian Air Force in the India-Burma theatre. The USAAF A-35 were mainly used as high-speed target tugs. Production of the Vengeance ceased in the autumn of 1944 after 1,528 had been built.

Vultee A-31 / A-35 Vengeance

Specification 
 MODELA-35B
 CREW2
 ENGINE1 x Wright R-2600-13 Cyclone, 1268kW
 WEIGHTS
  Take-off weight7439 kg16400 lb
  Empty weight4672 kg10300 lb
 DIMENSIONS
  Wingspan14.63 m48 ft 0 in
  Length12.12 m40 ft 9 in
  Height4.67 m15 ft 4 in
  Wing area30.84 m2331.96 sq ft
 PERFORMANCE
  Max. speed449 km/h279 mph
  Ceiling6795 m22300 ft
  Range3701 km2300 miles
 ARMAMENT6 x 12.7mm machine-guns, 900kg of bombs

3-View 
Vultee A-31 / A-35 VengeanceA three-view drawing (1388 x 1000)

Comments1-20 21-40
c.taylor, e-mail, 28.11.2007 16:09

My Grandfather, Bill Simpson was an aircraft engine fitter in Burma during the war and I remember him telling me that the Vengeance was a bl**dy awful aircraft! I remember him saying that the pilot had to press a whole assortment buttons instantaneously to start the engine and that if he did not do this correctly the engine would quite often burst into flames. He said this happened so often that every time one was started up blokes had to stand around it with fire extinguishers just in case!

reply

Paul Eden, e-mail, 05.11.2007 12:06

My Uncle Charles McAllister died when his RAAF Vengeance went down in New Guinea on 24 Feb 1944 after a bombing raid at Alexishafen. His plane was A27-276 which Pacificwrecks believed was found in 1997 but is yet to be validated by Australian government. I am interested in any information on the Vengeance model as my research paints a picture of a very unreliable aircraft which was prone to engine failure particularly due to overheating in the tropics.

reply

Graham Sullivan, e-mail, 22.10.2007 21:05

Greetings Donald, I've had to post here as the link to your Email is duff. Could you send me more details of the Vengeance paperwork? Look forward to hearing from you. Graham.

reply

Donald Vaughan, e-mail, 25.07.2007 03:03

I have the erection and maintenance instructions
for Army model RA-35B British model Vengeance IV
airplane. I was wondering if you would be interested
in purchasing it. Its dated March the 15 1944.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Donald Vaughan

reply

1-20 21-40

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