A-35 Vengeance, U.S. Dive Bomber

Vultee A-35B Vengeance

Specifications:

Crew

2

Dimensions

48'0" by 39'9" by 15'4"
14.63m by 12.11m by 4.67m

Weight

10,300-16,400 lbs
4672-7439 kg

Maximum speed      

279 mph at 13,500 feet
449 km/h at 4115 meters
Cruise speed 230 mph
370 km/h

Climb rate

20 feet per second
6.1 m/s

Service ceiling

22,000 feet
6800 meters

Power plant

One 1700hp (1268 kW) Wright R-2600-13Cyclone 14-cylinder radial driving a three bladed propeller.

Armament

6 0.50 machine guns in wings

External stores     

One 2000 lb (900 kg) bomb

Range

600 miles (970 km) normal
2300 miles (3700 km) maximum

Production

A total of 1931 by Vultee and Northrop (Hawthorne):

400 Mk.1 (A-31)

200 Mk.1A (A-31)

300 Mk.II (V-72)

100 Mk.III (A-31)

831 A-35B/Mk.IV
Variants The Mk.I was armed with four 0.303 wing machine guns and two 0.303 rear machine guns.
The Mk.II was armed with four 0.50 wing machineguns and one 0.50 rear machine gun.
Models prior to Mk.IV used a 1600 hp R-2600-19 engine.


The Vultee Vengeance was built to British specifications, entering production in 1942. It was not a great design: One American general is alleged to have described it as "a shining example of the waste of material, manpower, and time."  However, it saw some limited success in Burma.

About 342 were dumped on the  Australians in 1942-1944, who employed in New Guinea until their failings caused them to be withdrawn from front line service. 

Most were converted to target tugs by the various air forces that received them.

References

Dunnigan and Nofi (1998)

Gunston (1986, 1988)

Wilson (1998)