Vultee A-31 Vengeance

what is it?

The Vultee A-31 Vengeance is an American dive bomber of World War II that was built by Vultee Aircraft. A modified version was called A-35. The Vengeance was not used operationally by the United States but was operated as a front-line aircraft by the Royal Air Force, the Royal Australian Air Force, and the Royal Indian Air Force in Southeast Asia and the Southwest Pacific.

🔎How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · 14.6 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 443 km/htop speed
• range 2,253 kmwithout refuelling
• size 6,486 kgmax take-off weight
• built 1,931made 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 85 years ago, in 1941.
• 🏎️Top speed is 3.4× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 14.6 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🌍Range of 2,253 km: 13× Amsterdam to Brussels.

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

spec sheet

first flight

1941-03-30

retired

1948

status

retired

number built

1,931

role

dive bomber

origin

🇺🇸 United States

makers

Vultee Aircraft, Northrop

engines

1× Wright R-2600-A5B-5 Twin Cyclone

length

12.1 m

wingspan

14.6 m

height

4.7 m

max take-off weight

6,486 kg

top speed

443 km/h

cruise speed

378 km/h

range

2,253 km

ceiling

6,860 m

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