Curtiss A-12 Shrike

what is it?

The Curtiss A-12 Shrike was the United States Army Air Corps' second monoplane ground-attack aircraft, and its main attack aircraft through most of the 1930s. It was based on the A-8, but had a radial engine instead of the A-8's inline, water-cooled engine, as well as other changes.

🔎How to recognise it: piston engines · 13.4 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 285 km/htop speed
• size 2,611 kgmax take-off weight
• built 46made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🏎️Top speed is 2.2× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 13.4 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

—

introduced

1933

retired

1942

status

retired

number built

46

role

ground-attack aircraft

origin

🇺🇸 United States

makers

Curtiss

engines

Wright R-1820-21 Cyclone

crew

2

length

9.8 m

wingspan

13.4 m

height

2.7 m

max take-off weight

2,611 kg

top speed

285 km/h

cruise speed

241 km/h

range

—

ceiling

4,618 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.

family