Current and Finished Projects > Profiles and Pixels

American Zerstorer

(1/3) > >>

Acree:
American Zerstorer - The Development of the Curtiss A-18 Shrike.

I've always been fascinated by the Curtiss A-18.  Only 13 were built, with a first flight in 1935.  The fact that no more were built was apparently more a policy decision than one based on any qualities of the airframe.  The USAAC decided that the A-18 had proven the concept, but with limited funds available focused on strategic bomber development (B-17 and B-18) and fighters (P-35/36/40).  The thirteen A-18s built served in operational squadrons, first on a test basis, then in an operational role.  One even flew operational patrol missions over the Panama Canal approaches at the beginning of US involvement in World War II. 

Looking at the specifications of the service test A-18s, you can see a lot of similarity with the first versions of the Messerschmitt Bf 110, and the A-18 also compares well with other contemporary "heavy fighters," like the Potez 63 and Fokker G-1 - and all these first flew later than the Curtiss.   See the comparison below:

   
Exact model      YA-18 (A-18)      Bf 110A-0   Potez 630         Bell YFM-1      Fokker G-1 Mercury
First Flight Date            1935          1936              1936             1937               1937
Entered service            1937          1937              1938             1940               1938
Total HP                    1700          1262              1400             2180               1660
Top Speed                  247 mph        268 mph   275 mph        277 mph             295 mph
Range                  650 miles        680 miles   746 miles      2600 miles     938 miles
Wing loading          25.0 lb/ft2       35.7 lb/ft2   23.54 lb/ft2   25.3 lb/ft2           25.68 lb/ft2

What if the A-18 design had been persevered with and developed the way the Bf 110 was?  Of course, there are many factors involved in such development, but it could have made for quite an interesting aircraft.  When you consider that the late model Bf 110 had 100 mph more speed than the A-0, almost triple the range, significantly more firepower, etc., what could a late-model A-18 have been? 

Shown below, a real world A-18 in pre-war service with the 24th Bombardment Squadon (profile based on photographs). 
Slide1 by cacree, on Flickr
Next, another real world A-18, this time in wartime service, POSSIBLY with the 108th Observation Squadron.
Slide2 by cacree, on Flickr
Next, a What-if: a developed version re-engined with Allison V-1710-33s in P-40B-style cowlings (minus the cowl-mounted machine guns).  This version also upgraded the armament from the 4 x .30 caliber weapons of the original to 4 x .50 calibre and one 20mm cannon, all in the nose.  This version also had wing pylons for bombs or (later) rockets.  The aircraft illustrated carried 2 x 1000pound bombs and 2 x 3-tube M-10 rocket launchers ("Bazookas").
Slide3 by cacree, on Flickr
This next illustration shows the first long-range reconnaissance development of the A-18, designated the F-4 (developed instead of the real world P-38 Lightning variant).
Slide4 by cacree, on Flickr
Next comes the ultimate attack version of the Shrike, the A-18C.  Re-engined once again and reverting to air-cooled radials, this aircraft used the 1350-hp, R-1820-56 engines and needed a redesigned tail to cope with the extra power. 
Slide5 by cacree, on Flickr
When it came time to develop a radar-equipped specialty night fighter, the A-18 got the nod and was developed as the P-70 Nighthawk.  Shown below is the first production version, the P-70A.  Equipped with SCR-540 radar in the nose, the P-70 was armed with 4 x 20 mm cannon in a belly tray.
Slide6 by cacree, on Flickr
Final service version of the Shrike to be developed was the P-70B with the much-improved SCR-720 radar.  This version also got a much better-streamlined belly cannon installation for its four 20 mms.  Shown below are two examples of the P-70B.
Slide7 by cacree, on Flickr
Slide8 by cacree, on Flickr

I hope you enjoyed this fantasy development history of one of MY favorite aircraft! 

Kerick:
Great ideas! Definitely some whif potential. I like the Allison engine versions but all are good.

tankmodeler:
Very cool ideas and pretty darned logically applied.

If I may suggest?

For the re-engined, later Shrikes, they would probably have cleaned them up a bit aerodynamically, so fully retracting gear, at least. Maybe also fewer braces on the canopies.

For the A-18B-35 you might see the inclusion of the later Boston Martin turret in the rear position to provide some real punch back there. Or, conversely, the elimination of the aft gunner position entirely for more armour. Handheld .30s wouldn't be terribly effective against the more armoured European fighters, especially the FWs versus the relatively unarmoured Japanese aircraft in the Pacific theatre.

For the photo recce bird, I could imagine a version with the rear cabin deleted, longer wings for higher altitude and turbocharged Allisons to allow it to fly longer, higher and faster strategic recce missions.

Lastly, for the night fighters, perhaps the elimination of almost all the windows for the rear radar operator to allow them to better control their lighting when working the radars.

All in all, a vary cool concept!

Paul

GTX_Admin:
Interesting.  Would you also be able to add the aircraft weights to your comparison table - I think this will give a good context of why the Shrike was the slowest of the bunch despite having the highest engine power.

BTW, here is a photo to give people a good idea of how it looked in real life:



Personally, it has a Japanese look to it -  bit like an American Kawasaki Ki-45  ;):






Looking at the comparison:

Curtiss Y1A-18 Shrike
Crew: 2
Length: 12.50 m (41 ft 0 in)
Wingspan: 18.14 m  (59 ft 6 in)
Height: 3.51 m  (11 ft 6 in)
Wing area: 48.87 m²  (526 ft²)
Empty weight: 4,268 kg (9,410 lb)
Max. takeoff weight: 5,974 kg (13,170 lb)
Powerplant: 2 × Wright R-1820-47 air-cooled radial engines, 850hp (each

Performance:
Maximum speed: 398 km/h (247 mph)
Range: 1,048 km (651 mi )
Service ceiling: 8,370 m (25,650 ft)

Armament:
4 × forward-firing .30 in (7.62 mm) M1919 Browning machine guns
1 × aft-firing .30 in (7.62 mm) machine gunKawasaki Ki-45 Toryu
Crew: 2
Length: 11.00 m (36 ft 1 in)
Wingspan: 15.02 m (49 ft 4 in)
Height: 3.70 m (12 ft 2 in)
Wing area: 32.0 m² (344 ft²)
Empty weight: 4,000 kg (8,820 lb)
Loaded weight: 5,500 kg (12,125 lb)
Powerplant: 2 × Mitsubishi Ha-102 14-cylinder radial engines, 1,050 hp each

Performance:
Maximum speed: 540 km/h (292 kn, 336 mph)
Range: 2,000 km (1,081 nmi, 1,243 mi)
Service ceiling: 10,000 m (32,800 ft)

Armament:
1 × 37 mm (1.46 in) Ho-203, 1 × 20 mm Ho-3,
1 × 7.92 mm (.312 in) flexible
If you wanted to do an operational upgraded development though keeping as close to the original as possible, one could easily consider the following:

Engines stay as Wright R-1820s but maybe go to the 1200hp versions and even eventually the ~1500hp versions.  Maybe also increase the armament to include some cannon - say either a 37 mm M4 and/or 20mm M2(c) along with M2 12.7mm MGs.

There's at least 4 kits of the A-18 available though all are 1/72 so why bother... ;)

Frank3k:
It reminds me of the Ki-46 Dinah II. Give it a long aerodynamic canopy like the Dinah III...

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page