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#1198

North American P-64

first flew 1940· fighter

North American P-64, photo 1 of 10
1/10 SDASM Archives· Public domain

what is it?

The North American P-64 was the designation assigned by the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) to the North American Aviation NA-68 fighter, an upgraded variant of the NA-50 developed during the late 1930s. It was designed as a low-cost fighter for the export market. Seven NA-50s were purchased by the Peruvian Air Force, which nicknamed it Torito ("Little Bull").

How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · 11.4 m wingspan

base stats

  • speed 434 km/htop speed
  • size 3,084 kgmax take-off weight
  • built 13made 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

  • First flew 86 years ago, in 1940.
  • Top speed is 3.3× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
  • Wingspan of 11.4 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
1940-09-01
retired
1950
status
retired
number built
13
role
fighter
makers
North American Aviation
engines
1× Wright R-1820-77
crew
1
length
8.2 m
wingspan
11.4 m
height
2.7 m
max take-off weight
3,084 kg
top speed
434 km/h
cruise speed
378 km/h
range
—
ceiling
8,382 m

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

family

Sources: Wikidata Q3040492, Wikipedia: North American P-64 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.

stan runge 704880d source