what is it?
The Douglas A-33 (Model 8A-5) was an American attack aircraft built in small numbers during World War II. It was an updated version of the Northrop A-17, with a more powerful engine and an increased bomb load. While the A-33 was intended initially for the export market, the entire production run was taken up by the United States Army Air Corps.
How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · 14.6 m wingspan
base stats
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 3.1× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- Wingspan of 14.6 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
- 1941
- number built
- 36
- role
- attack aircraft
- origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- makers
- Douglas
- engines
- 1× Wright GR-1820-G205A Cyclone
- crew
- 2
- length
- 9.9 m
- wingspan
- 14.6 m
- height
- 2.8 m
- max take-off weight
- 4,173 kg
- top speed
- 399 km/h
- range
- —
- ceiling
- 8,839 m
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q5301174, Wikipedia: Douglas A-33 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.