LF7276 CURTISS A-18 SHRIKE II

The Curtiss A-18 Shrike II was a metal-structure, American-made interwar and World War II attack aircraft with a retractable landing gear in the mid-wing configuration. The drive was provided by two radial motors Wright R-1820-47 with 850 hp each. The first flight of this machine took place in 1935. Shortly thereafter, a short pre-series production began, which led to the creation of about 15 aircraft of this type. The deck armament consisted of five 7.62 mm Browning M1919 machine guns. The plane could also carry bomb loads of up to 272 kilograms. The Curtiss A-18 Shrike II was designed for the US Air Force (USAAC) as a new attack aircraft. Interestingly, the Curtiss company, when developing the new aircraft, relied on the successful prototype of the YA-14 aircraft. Finally, a twin-engine machine with a classic tail was created, which in the course of tests achieved a very high maximum speed comparable to the then fighters, e.g. Boeing P-26! It also clearly outstripped previous Curtiss designs from the 1930s, such as the A-8 and A-12 planes. The US Air Force decided to order a small information batch and test the A-18 on its own. In the course of these tests, it turned out that the A-18 has far too low load capacity of the bombs, its possible armor would significantly reduce the performance, and what's more - the machine was difficult to pilot and very demanding on the pilot during take-off and landing. Due to all these shortcomings, the A-18 did not enter mass production, and the Douglas A-20 Havoc became the basic USAAC attack aircraft.