U.S.A.A.F. RESOURCE CENTER > BOMBERS > VENGEANCE > PREVIOUS PAGE
Design & Development
Vultee Aircraft Company, Nashville, TN. In the fuselage assembly section.
[Source: Library Of Congress]
France placed an order for 300 V-72s, with deliveries intended to start in October 1940. The fall of France in June 1940 stopped these plans, but at the same time the British Purchasing Commission, impressed by the performance of the German Junkers Ju 87, was shopping for a dive bomber for the Royal Air Force, and as it was the only aircraft available, placed an order for 200 V-72s (named Vengeance by Vultee) on 3 July 1940, with orders for a further 100 being placed in December. As Vultee's factory at Downey was already busy building BT-13 Valiant trainers, the aircraft were to be built at the Stinson factory at Nashville, and under license by Northrop at Hawthorne, CA.
The dive brakes of a Vultee Vengeance of the RAAF at Bankstown.
[Source: Unknown/Internet]
After the U.S. entered the war following the attack on Pearl Harbor, a number of V-72 and A-31 aircraft were re-possessed for use by the Army Air Corps. As the Army Air Corps became interested in dive bombing, it decided to order production of an improved version of the Vengeance, designated the A-35, for both its own use and for supply to its allies under Lend-Lease. It was fitted with a more powerful Wright Twin Cyclone R-2600-19 engine and improved armament. As US Army test pilots disliked the poor pilot view resulting from the zero-incidence wing, this was "corrected" in the A-35, giving a better attitude in cruise but losing its accuracy as a dive bomber.
Vultee A-35A-VN Vengeance/41-31166.
[Source: USAF Photo via Mark Allen Collection]
Indecision about which aircraft type should replace it in production at the Vultee plant led to several "make-work" contracts for Vengeance aircraft to prevent dispersion of the skilled workforce. This resulted in overproduction of what was considered an obsolete aircraft.
Source:
Wikipedia
U.S.A.A.F. RESOURCE CENTER > BOMBERS > VENGEANCE > PREVIOUS PAGE