Vultee Vengeance

The Vultee A-31 Vengeance was an American dive bomber of World War II.

Variants

RAF & Commonwealth Variants

Vengeance I

Vultee V-72 license built by Northrop and ordered directly for Britain, powered by 1,600 hp (1,200 kW) R-2600-A5B engine. 200 built.

Vengeance IA

Northrop built aircraft purchased under Lend-Lease, powered by 1,600 hp (1,200 kW) R-2600-19 engine, otherwise similar to Vengeance I.

USAAF designation A-31-NO. 200 built.

Vengeance II

Vultee built aircraft directly purchased by Britain.

Small differences from Vengeance I. 501 built.

Vengeance III

Vultee built Lend-Lease aircraft.

Similar to IA, USAAF designation A-31-VN, 200 built.

Vengeance IV

A-35B supplied under Lend-Lease to RAF and RAAF.

458 supplied to RAF and 121 to RAAF.

US Variants

XA-31A

Redesignated prototype Vengeance accepted by USAAF in June 1942.

Vultee designation V-88.

XA-31B

XA-31A modified as testbed for 3,000 hp (2,240 kW) Pratt & Whitney XR-4360-1 Wasp Major.

XA-31C

Vengeance III modified as testbed for 2,200 hp (1,640 kW) Wright R-3350-18 Duplex Cyclone engine, One converted.

YA-31C

Vengeance IIIs modified as testbeds for R-3350-17 engines for B-29 Superfortress, Five built.

A-35A

Redesigned version for USAAF and Lend-Lease. 4° wing incidence.

Powered by 1,700 hp (1269 kW) R-2600-13 or -8 engine.

Four forward-firing .50 in (12.7 mm) calibre M2 Browning machine guns and one in rear cockpit.

Vultee designation V-88, 99 aircraft built.

A-35B

Modified aircraft with six forward-firing 0.50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns and additional bomb racks.

831 built.

TBV-1 Georgia

A-35Bs meant to be in service with the U.S. Navy, order cancelled.

Specifications

Crew

2

Length

39 ft 9 in (12.12 m)

Wingspan

48 ft 0 in (14.63 m)

Height

15 ft 4 in (4.67 m)

Wing area

332 sq ft (30.84 m2)

Empty weight

9,725 lb (4,411 kg)

Max takeoff weight

14,300 lb (6,486 kg)

Powerplant

1 × Wright R-2600-A5B-5 Twin Cyclone 14 cylinder radial air-cooled engine, 1,600 hp (1,193 kW)

Performance

Maximum speed

275 mph (443 km/h, 239 kn) at 11,000 ft (3,350 m)

Cruise speed

235 mph (378 km/h, 204 kn)

Range

1,400 mi (2,253 km, 1,220 nmi)

Service ceiling

22,500 ft (6,860 m)

Wing loading

43.1 lb/sq ft (210 kg/m2)

Power/mass

0.11 hp/lb (0.18 kW/kg)

Armament

Guns

4 × fixed forward-firing .30 in (7.6 mm) Browning machine guns in the wing

2 × flexible mount .30 in (7.6 mm)

Or

.303 in (7.7 mm) machine guns in rear cockpit

Bombs

2 × internal 500 lb (230 kg) bombs

2 × 250 lb (110 kg) bomb on wing racks.