Curtiss A-8 — the 1930s attack aircraft experiment

Curtiss A-8 — the 1930s attack aircraft experiment

The U.S. Army Air Corps compared air cooled radial engine powered aircraft versus in-line liquid cooled engines in attack aircraft designs, during the 1930s, and the Curtiss A-8 was one of these designs. Powered by a Curtiss V-1570-31 Conqueror (600 hp/~450kW) the A-8 carried its pilot–observer/rear gunner nearly 500 miles at 153 mph/245kph. Marked by two glazed tandem cockpits it had a semi-sleek appearance though with distracting wing bracing. Aside from the rear position armed with a single 0.30 caliber machine guns there were  four forward firing machine 0.30 caliber machine guns with the primary offensive armament of a four bomb mounting points for a total of nearly 500 lbs. /~230kg.

 

Curtiss A-8 — San Diego Air & Space Museum photo from the Charles M. Daniels Collection

The A-8 design was phased out of the competition in the late 1930s with all models sent to be scrapped and the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force has this fact sheet.