Seversky A8V

A8V1 / AT-12
A8V1 "Shiokaze-go" used by The Asahi Shimbun Newspaper company
Role Fighter
National origin United States
Manufacturer Seversky
First flight 15 August 1935
Introduction 1937
Retired September 1952 (Sweden)
Primary users Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service
United States Army Air Corps
Swedish Air Force
Number built 70
Developed from Seversky P-35

The A8V1 Type S Two Seat Fighter was an aircraft operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service.

Design and development

The origins of the Seversky P-35 single-seat fighter trace back to the Seversky SEV-3 amphibian, which was developed into the Seversky BT-8 basic trainer. Seversky's chief designer, Alexander Kartveli, also proposed a two-seat fighter derivative, the SEV-2XP. This was powered by a 735 hp (548 kW) Wright R-1670 radial engine. It had fixed landing gear in aerodynamic spats and was armed with one 0.50 in (12.70 mm) and one 0.30 in (7.62 mm) forward-firing machine guns plus an additional 0.30 in (7.62 mm) machine gun for rear defence.

When the USAAC announced a competition for a new single-seat fighter in 1935, Seversky sent the SEV-2XP, confident it would win despite being a two-seater. However, the aircraft was damaged on 18 June 1935 during its transit to the fly-offs at Wright Field. The Air Corps delayed the fly-off until March 1936, which allowed Seversky time to rework the fighter into the single-seat SEV-1XP with retractable landing gear and re-engined with the Wright R-1820 radial.[1]

In what proved to be an unpopular move for Seversky, twenty 2PA-B3s were sold to the Japanese Navy, which briefly employed them in the Second Sino-Japanese War as Navy Type S Two-Seat Fighter or A8V1 (Allied codename "Dick").

Two demonstrators ended up in the USSR; although a manufacturing licence was also bought, the Soviets undertook no production.

Sweden ordered 52 2PAs (known as the B 6), but only two were delivered before the remaining 50 were impounded in 1940 and put into service with the USAAC as the AT-12 Guardsman advanced trainer. On 18 June 1940, United States declared an embargo against exporting weapons to any nation other than the United Kingdom.

Variants

2PA
Two-seat version of Seversky P-35 with rear gunner.
2PA-202 - European demonstrator (1)
2PA-A - for USSR (1)
2PA-B - European demonstrator (1)
2PA-BX - European demonstrator (1)
2PA-B3 - 20 production aircraft for Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service as Seversky A8V1.
2PA-L - for USSR (1)
A8V1 "Dick"
Japanese designation for 2PA-B3 (and U.S. codename).
B 6
Swedish designation of the 2PA (only 2 delivered, see below).
AT-12 Guardsman
Two-seat advanced trainer for the USAAF (50 2PA ordered by Sweden, but impounded).

Operators

 Japan
 Sweden
 United States

Specifications (A8V1)

3-view drawing of the Seversky A8V

Data from [2]

General characteristics

  • Crew: two
  • Length: 26 ft 11 in (8.2 m)
  • Wingspan: 36 ft 0 in (10.97 m)
  • Height: 9 ft 10 in (2.99 m)
  • Wing area: 220.0 sq ft (20.44 m2)
  • Empty weight: 4,581 lb (2,078 kg)
  • Gross weight: 7,659 lb (3,474 kg)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Wright R-1820 Cyclone radial piston engine, 1,000 hp (750 kW)

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 316 mph (508 km/h, 274 kn)
  • Range: 1,950 mi (3,138 km, 1,694 nmi)
  • Service ceiling: 30,000 ft (9,100 m)

See also

Related development

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

References

Notes
  1. ^ Green 1961
  2. ^ Jane's All the World's Aircraft, 1938 edition
Bibliography
  • Davis Larry. P-35: Mini in Action (Mini Number 1). Carrollton, Texas: Squadron/Signal Publications, 1994. ISBN 0-89747-321-3.
  • Fitzsimmons, Bernard. The Illustrated International Aircraft Guide Fighters of WWII, Part IX. London: MacDonald Phoebus Ltd., 1981.
  • Green, William. War Planes of the Second World War, Volume Four: Fighters. London: Macdonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd., 1961 (Sixth impression 1969). ISBN 0-356-01448-7.
  • Hucker, Robert. "Seversky: Innovator and Prophet." Air Classics, 20th Anniversary Special Edition 1964–1984, 1984.
  • United States Air Force Museum Guidebook. Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio: Air Force Museum Foundation, 1975.
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