North American A-36

North American A-36
North American A-36A
Type:	Dive bombers
Design country:	United States
Manufacturer:	North American Aviation
First flight:	October 1942
Commissioning:	Early 1943
Production time:	Late 1942 to March 1943
Number of pieces:	500

The North American A-36 (company name NA-97 ) was a single-engine, single-seat all-metal dive bomber and ground attack aircraft produced by the American aircraft manufacturer North American Aviation , which was derived from the North American P-51 Mustang in 1942 . The USAAF also referred to the A-36 as the Mustang , while North American and many aviation historians nicknamed it the Apache to distinguish it from the Mustang . In the early days of its successful use in North Africa and Italy, it was also referred to by the units as an Invader , but this name was not accepted.

history

In the spring of 1942, after the Mustang I was introduced by the Royal Air Force , North American began planning to modify the original Mustang fighter aircraft into a dive bomber. Originally, four 20 mm cannons were planned as armament, but these were replaced by six 12.7 mm machine guns. Under the wings there were two bomb suspensions on which up to 454 kg of drop ammunition could be carried. The hydraulically actuated dive brakes in the form of slotted plates were located on the top and bottom of the wings.

Her first combat mission was on June 6, 1943 with the 27th Fighter Bomber Group in preparation for Operation Corkscrew . It was also used in the Italian campaign , Operation Dragoon and the Burma campaign.

In Europe, the A-36 was replaced by the Republic P-47 and the Curtiss P-40 from June 1944 .

Technical specifications

Parameter	Data
span	11.34 m
length	9.83 m
height	3.71 m
Engine	an Allison V-1710 -87 with 1325 PS (988 kW)
Armament	six 12.7 mm Browning M2 , 454 kg gun load on two underwing mounts
max starting weight	4536 kg
Top speed	600 km / h
Cruising speed	400 km / h
Range	885 km
Summit height	9000 m

literature

• Peter Charles Smith: Straight Down !: The North American A-36 Dive-Bomber in Action. Specialty Press, North Branch 2000. ISBN 0-947554-73-4
• William Hess: Fighting Mustang: The Chronicle of the P-51 . 1970. ISBN 9780912173047 .

Web links

Commons : North American A-36  - Collection of Images, Videos, and Audio Files

• North American A-36 Fact Sheet (engl.)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Encyclopedia of Airplanes, Aerospace Publishing Ltd. 1992
2. ^ P-51 Mustang in action , squadron / signal publications, 1981, p. 14
3. ↑ Mustang: The Story of the P-51 Mustang 1969 p. 61