Curtiss A-8
| Curtiss A-8 Shrike | |
|---|---|
 Curtiss A-8 "Shrike" |
|
| Type: | bomber |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
June 1931 |
| Number of pieces: |
13 |
The Curtiss A-8 Shrike was an all-metal - low-wing aircraft of the US Army from 1931. The aircraft was as a light bomber designed.
history
The US Army wrote in 1930 in a contest to their outdated biplane bomber De Havilland DH4 and Curtiss A-3 by a more modern monoplane to replace. In comparison, the machine had to compete against the Fokker XA-7 .
The first flight of the prototype XA-8 (Model 59) took place in June 1931. It had a 600-hp Curtiss-V-1570C-Conqueror - in- line engine . Curtiss won the comparison and received an order for 13 test machines. Five machines got a new 600-horsepower Curtiss V-1570E engine and were named YA-8. The other eight machines were redesigned and named Y1A-8.
Four of the five YA-8s and seven of the eight Y1A-8s were handed over to the 37th Attack Squadron of the 8th Pursuit Group in Langley Field , Virginia and the 3rd Attack Group in Texas .
At the end of 1933, another 46 machines of the A-8B variant were ordered. The machines were from the line engine has a 700-horsepower Wright R-1820-21 Cyclone - radial engine changed. The aircraft were designated as Curtiss A-12 and decommissioned towards the end of the 1930s.
construction
The A-8 was an all-metal low-wing aircraft with a fully faired, fixed landing gear. She had two separate, fully glazed cabins for pilot and observer / gunner. The construction was very aerodynamic. Four forward-firing .30-cal (7.62 mm) machine guns and a movable 7.62-mm machine gun were provided for the observer.
variants
- XA-8
- 1 prototype
- YA-8
- 5 pieces
- Y1A-8
- 8 pieces
- A-8
- 11 pieces
- Y1A-8A
- 1 piece, 657 hp Curtiss V-1570-57 engine
- A-8A
- 1 piece
- A-8B
- 48 pieces, all converted to A-12
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Data |
|---|---|
| length | 9.75 m |
| span | 13.41 m |
| Wing area | 26.38 m² |
| height | 2.75 m |
| drive | a Curtiss V-1570 -31- "Conqueror" V12 engine with 600 kW (816 PS) |
| Top speed | 295 km / h |
| Range | 722 km |
| crew | 2 (pilot, observer / gunner) |
| Service ceiling | 5516 m |
| Empty mass | 1773 kg |
| Takeoff mass | 2671 kg |
| Armament | five 7.7 mm machine guns , four 81 kg bombs |
