The Vultee A-31 Vengeance is an American

dive bomber A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target simplifies the bomb's trajectory and allows the pilot to keep visual contact througho ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

that was built by

Vultee Aircraft Vultee Aircraft, Inc., was an aircraft manufacturer founded in 1939 in Los Angeles County, California, when the ''Vultee Aircraft Division'' of the aviation holding company AVCO was reorganized as an independent company. It had limited success b ...

. 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 Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

, the

Royal Australian Air Force The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-Gener ...

, and the

Royal Indian Air Force The Royal Indian Air Force (RIAF) was the aerial force of British Raj, British India and later the Dominion of India. Along with the British Indian Army, and the Royal Indian Navy, it was one of the Armed Forces of British Indian Empire. The ...

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

and the

Southwest Pacific The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each ...

. The A-31 remained in service with U.S. units until 1945, primarily as a

target-tug A target tug is an aircraft which tows an unmanned drone, a fabric drogue or other kind of target, for the purposes of gun or missile target practice. Target tugs are often conversions of transport and utility aircraft, as well as obsolescent co ...

Design and development

In 1940,

started the design of a single-engined dive-bomber, the Vultee Model 72 (V-72) to meet the requirements of the French ''Armée de l'Air''. The V-72 was built with private funds and was intended for sale to foreign markets. The V-72 was a low-wing, single-engine

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

with a closed

cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, on the front part of an aircraft, spacecraft, or submersible, from which a pilot controls the vehicle. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the controls th ...

and a crew of two. An air-cooled radial

Wright Twin Cyclone The Wright R-2600 Cyclone 14 (also called Twin Cyclone) is an American radial engine developed by Curtiss-Wright, and widely used in aircraft in the 1930s and 1940s. History In 1935, Curtiss-Wright began work on a more powerful version of thei ...

engine rated at powered the V-72. It was armed with fixed forward-firing and flexible-mounted machine guns in the rear cockpit. The aircraft carried up to of bombs in an interior bomb bay and on external wing racks. The Vengeance was uniquely designed to dive vertically without lift from the wing pulling the aircraft off target. To this end, the wing had a 0° angle of incidence the better to align the nose of the aircraft with the target during the dive. This resulted in the aircraft cruising in a nose-up attitude, giving a poor forward view for the pilot, particularly during landing. It had an unusual, W-shaped wing planform. This resulted from an error in calculating its centre of gravity. Moving the wing back by "sweeping" the centre section was a simpler fix than re-designing the wing root. This gives the impression of an inverted

gull wing The gull wing, also known as Polish wing or Puławski wing, is an aircraft wing configuration with a prominent bend in the wing inner section towards the wing root. Its name is derived from the seabirds which it resembles and from the Polish a ...

when seen from an angle, when in fact the wing has a more conventional dihedral on the outer wing panels. France placed an order for 300 V-72s, with deliveries intended to start in October 1940. The

Battle of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembour ...

in June 1940 stopped these plans, but at the same time the

British Purchasing Commission The British Purchasing Commission was a United Kingdom organisation of the Second World War. Also known at some time as the "Anglo-French Purchasing Board", it was based in New York City, where it arranged the production and purchase of armaments fr ...

, impressed by the performance of the German

Junkers Ju 87 The Junkers Ju 87, popularly known as the "Stuka", is a German dive bomber and ground-attack aircraft. Designed by Hermann Pohlmann, it first flew in 1935. The Ju 87 made its combat debut in 1937 with the Luftwaffe's Condor Legion during the ...

, "Stuka" was shopping for a dive bomber for the

, and as it was the only aircraft available, placed an order for 200 V-72s (named Vengeance by Vultee) on 3 July 1940, with orders for a further 100 being placed in December. As Vultee's factory at

Downey Downey may refer to: People *Downey (surname) *Robert Downey Jr. Places *Downey, California, US *Downey, Idaho, US *Downey, Iowa, US Businesses * W. & D. Downey, photographic studio * Downey Studios, created out of a former Boeing plant Schools ...

was already busy building

BT-13 Valiant The Vultee BT-13 Valiant is an American World War II-era basic (a category between primary and advanced) trainer aircraft built by Vultee Aircraft for the United States Army Air Corps, and later US Army Air Forces. A subsequent variant of the ...

trainers, the aircraft were to be built at the Stinson factory at

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

and under license by Northrop at

Hawthorne, California Hawthorne is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California. It is part of a seventeen-city subregion of the Los Angeles metropolitan area commonly known as the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay. As of the 2020 United States cens ...

. The first prototype V-72 flew from Vultee's factory at Downey, California, on 30 March 1941. Additional aircraft were ordered for Britain in June 1941 under the

Lend-Lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (),3,000 Hurricanes and >4,000 other aircraft) * 28 naval vessels: ** 1 Battleship. (HMS Royal Sovereign (05), HMS Royal Sovereign) * ...

scheme, with those given the

US Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

name A-31. After the U.S. entered the war following the

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Territory of ...

, a number of V-72 and A-31 aircraft were repossessed for use by the

USAAF The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

. As the USAAF became interested in dive bombing, it decided to order production of an improved version of the Vengeance, the A-35, for both its own use and for supply to its allies under Lend-Lease. It was fitted with a more powerful Wright Twin Cyclone R-2600-19 engine and improved armament. As US Army test pilots disliked the poor pilot view resulting from the zero-incidence wing, that was "corrected" in the A-35, giving the plane a better attitude in cruise but lessening its accuracy as a dive bomber. When production of the Vengeance was completed in 1944, a total of 1,931 aircraft had been made. The majority were produced at the Vultee plant in Nashville,

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

. Indecision about which aircraft type should replace it in production at the Vultee plant led to several "make-work" contracts for Vengeance aircraft to prevent dispersion of the skilled workforce. That resulted in the overproduction of what was considered an obsolete aircraft.

Evaluation

Operational experience with other dive-bombers, such as the

Blackburn Skua The Blackburn B-24 Skua was a carrier-based low-wing, two-seater, single-radial engine aircraft by the British aviation company Blackburn Aircraft. It was the first Royal Navy carrier-borne all-metal cantilever monoplane aircraft, as well as th ...

, Junkers Ju 87 Stuka, Aichi D3A "Val", Douglas Dauntless, Breda Ba.65 and

Curtiss SB2C Helldiver The Curtiss SB2C Helldiver was a dive bomber developed by Curtiss-Wright during World War II. As a carrier-based bomber with the United States Navy (USN), in Pacific theaters, it supplemented and replaced the Douglas SBD Dauntless. A few su ...

, indicated that the Vengeance would be vulnerable to fighter attack. To be effective, all those aircraft required an environment of local

air superiority An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmospher ...

and fighter escort. Escorts and lack of fighter opposition in the theatres in which it served, combined with its vertical dive capability, meant that the Vengeance suffered only light combat losses. Early experience with the aircraft showed that there were problems with engine cooling. The RAF managed to solve the problems but

Free French Free France () was a resistance government claiming to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third French Republic, Third Republic during World War II. Led by General , Free France was established as a gover ...

aircraft that did not have these problems remedied were grounded, being declared uneconomical and unreliable to operate. The aircraft was described as being stable in flight and in a dive, with heavy elevator and rudder control , the aileron control was considered light. Forward visibility was considered poor due to the large radial engine. There were a number of fatal accidents with the Vengeance due to improper dive procedures, as well as a center of gravity problem when the aircraft was flown with the rear cockpit canopy open and without a rear gunner. The type was considered rugged, reliable, stable and generally well-behaved. Commonwealth forces operated the type from May 1942 to July 1944.

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

tended to have low importance for Allied air planners and forces in that theater got left overs. Aircraft such as the

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

and

Hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its ...

spent their last days in Burma. The Vengeance saw considerable action attacking Japanese supply, communications and troop concentrations. Its service in that theater has been described as "...very effective". Peter Smith, author of ''Jungle Dive Bombers at War'', wrote that, "Their pilots had difficulty in getting them off the ground with a full load. At Newton Field they were using the full length of the runway before becoming airborne. Kittyhawk aircraft could carry the same bomb load and in addition carry out ground-strafing". In contrast, many crew spoke well of the Vengeance,

Operational history

UK and India

By the time that Britain had received many Vengeances, its opinion on the usefulness of specialised dive bombers had changed. As the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain () was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defended the United Kingdom (UK) against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany's air force ...

and operations over

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

had shown the dive bomber to be vulnerable to fighter attack, the Vengeance was rejected for use over Western Europe or in the Mediterranean. It was decided to use the Vengeance in the Burma theatre to carry out dive-bombing operations in close support of British and Indian troops. RAF 82 Squadron and 110 Squadron received Vengeances in October 1942. The first dive bombing sorties against Japanese forces were flown on 19 March 1943. Two more squadrons in Burma 84 Squadron and 45 Squadron converted to the Vengeance, together with 7 Squadron and 8 Squadron of the

(RIAF). In cases of

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...

clouds, which obstructed the view during the dive, IAF pilots practiced the unconventional method of shallow bombing, releasing bombs at only. Enough hits were landed using this technique, that they were persuaded by commanders to use this technique when conditions were similar. Vengeances flew in support of the second Arakan campaign of 1943–1944, and defending against the Japanese attacks in the

Battle of Imphal The Battle of Imphal () took place in the region around the city of Imphal, the capital of the state of Manipur in Northeast India from March until July 1944. Empire of Japan, Japanese armies attempted to destroy the Allied forces at Imphal and ...

and

Battle of Kohima The Battle of Kohima was the turning point of the Imperial Japan, Japanese Operation U-Go, U-Go offensive into British Raj, India in 1944 during the World War II, Second World War. The battle took place in three stages from 4 April to 22 June 19 ...

of April–July 1944. Following the defeat of the Japanese offensive, the RAF and RIAF started to withdraw the Vengeance in favour of more versatile fighter-bombers and twin-engine light bombers; the last Vengeance operations over Burma were carried out on 16 July 1944. After Burma service, a detachment from 110 Squadron RAF was sent to

Takoradi Sekondi-Takoradi ( ) is a city in Ghana comprising the twin cities of Sekondi and Takoradi. It is the capital of Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan District and the Western Region of Ghana. Sekondi-Takoradi is the region's largest city as well as ...

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

via the Middle East, a number of aircraft breaking down en route. Between September and December 1944, 11 Vultees took part in air-spraying trials against malarial mosquitoes, using under wing spray dispensers. Britain continued to receive large numbers of Vengeances, with bulk deliveries of Lend Lease aircraft (as opposed to those purchased directly by Britain) having only just started. Many of these surplus aircraft, including most Vengeance Mk IVs, were delivered to the UK and modified as

target tug A target tug is an aircraft which tows an unmanned drone, a fabric drogue or other kind of target, for the purposes of gun or missile target practice. Target tugs are often conversions of transport and utility aircraft, as well as obsolescent c ...

s, being used in that role by the RAF and the

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is the naval aviation component of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy (RN). The FAA is one of five :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, RN fighting arms. it is a primarily helicopter force, though also operating the Lockhee ...

(FAA). In those roles, all armament was removed from the aircraft.

Australia

Australia placed an order for 400 Vengeances as an emergency measure following the outbreak of war in the Pacific, which was met by a mixture of Lend Lease and diversions from the original British orders. While the first Vengeance was delivered to the

(RAAF) in May 1942, the aircraft did not arrive in substantial numbers until April 1943. The RAAF's first Vengeance unit, 12 Squadron flew its first operational mission against

Selaru Island Selaru is an island in Indonesia in the Tanimbar Islands group, Maluku (province), Southeast Maluku. It is located south of Yamdena. It is one of the 92 officially listed List of outlying islands of Indonesia, outlying islands of Indonesia. See ...

in the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

. Squadrons equipped with the Vengeance included 12, 21 Squadron, 23 Squadron, 24 Squadron and 25 Squadron. Of these, all but 25 Squadron served briefly in the

New Guinea campaign The New Guinea campaign of the Pacific War lasted from January 1942 until the end of the war in August 1945. During the initial phase in early 1942, the Empire of Japan invaded the Territory of New Guinea on 23 January and Territory of Papua on ...

. Australian Vengeances flew their last operational sorties on 8 March 1944, as they were considered less efficient than fighter bombers, having a short range and requiring a long runway, and were withdrawn to make room for fighter bombers in the forward area. The Vengeance squadrons were re-equipped with

Consolidated B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models desi ...

heavy bombers. The view of the Vengeance's limitations is disputed by Peter Smith in ''Jungle Dive Bombers at War'', This capacity was exemplified in the raid by 21 and 23 Squadrons RAAF on

Hansa Bay Hansa Bay is a bay located on the north coast of Papua New Guinea, in Madang Province, between Madang and Wewak, northeast of Bogia, Papua New Guinea, Bogia. World War II history During the New Guinea campaign, Hansa Bay was a major Japanese Com ...

. Smith wrote, "...the jungle-clad hills and islands of forgotten or unknown lands would become the major stage for the ultimate expression of the dive-bombers' skill." While the RAAF still had 58 Vengeances on order in March 1944, this order was cancelled and the aircraft were never delivered. Small numbers of Vengeances remained in service with support and trials units until 1946.

Brazil

Thirty-three V-72s and A-35s were supplied to

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

from 1943, carrying out a few anti-submarine patrols. They were withdrawn by April 1948.

Free French

The

Free French Air Force The Free French Air Forces (, FAFL) were the air arm of the Free French Forces in the Second World War, created by Charles de Gaulle in 1940. The designation ceased to exist in 1943 when the Free French Forces merged with General Giraud's force ...

received 67 A-35As and -Bs in 1943, being used to equip three bomb groups in North Africa. The French, keen to get the aircraft operational as soon as possible did not incorporate improvements found necessary by Britain and Australia, so their aircraft proved to be unreliable and had extremely high oil consumption. The French Vengeances were restricted to training operations, being withdrawn in September 1944.

United States

While the U.S. received 243 V-72s and A-31s diverted from the RAF orders together with large numbers of A-35s built for it, these saw no combat, being used as initial equipment for light bomber squadrons that re-equipped with twin-engine aircraft before deploying overseas, and as trainers or target tugs. According to other sources the A-31 saw extensive front-line combat with the 10th Air Force in China throughout the spring of 1944. As many as 60 A-31's could be fielded for a mission. The A-31 first saw combat in China on 14 March 1944, when 41 A-31's along with British aircraft hit targets in Arakan and Chin Hills China. It was last used on 25 May 1944, when 20 A-31s scored bombing hits on the Manipar R bridge at Tonzang. From April 1944, a number of Vengeance Mk IV series Is were made available to the

8th Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Forces S ...

and assigned to target-towing flights and Combat Crew Replacement Center stations. All armament was removed and a light cable winch fitted in the rear fuselage for sleeve towing. Some of these aircraft continued to be flown with British national markings and serial numbers. By late June 1944, there were seven A-35Bs at

RAF Cluntoe Royal Air Force Cluntoe or more simply RAF Cluntoe is a former Royal Air Force satellite airfield located west of Ardboe Ardboe () is a large parish civil parish in east County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It borders the western shore of Lough ...

, seven at Greencastle, ten at

RAF Sutton Bridge Royal Air Force Sutton Bridge or more simply RAF Sutton Bridge is a former Royal Air Force List of former Royal Air Force stations, station found next to the village of Sutton Bridge in the south-east of Lincolnshire. The airfield was to the sou ...

and six at

RAF East Wretham Royal Air Force East Wretham or more simply RAF East Wretham is a former Royal Air Force station located northeast of Thetford, Norfolk, England. History Royal Air Force use East Wretham airfield was hurriedly brought into service during t ...

. When the CCRCs were dissolved in the autumn, the Vengeances were transferred to combat groups, with most fighter and several bomber groups having one on hand at some time during 1945. A-35Bs did not show a high state of serviceability by this time and were generally considered troublesome to maintain. They were also called RA-35B (R for Restricted) by this time.

Variants

RAF Variants

;Vengeance I :Vultee V-72 license built by Northrop and ordered directly for Britain, powered by R-2600-A5B engine. 200 built. ;Vengeance IA :Northrop built aircraft purchased under Lend-Lease, powered by R-2600-19 engine, otherwise similar to Vengeance I. USAAF designation A-31-NO. 200 built. ;Vengeance II :Vultee built aircraft directly purchased by Britain. Small differences from Vengeance I. 501 built. ;Vengeance III :Vultee built Lend-Lease aircraft. Similar to IA. USAAF designation A-31-VN. 200 built. ;Vengeance IV :A-35B supplied under Lend-Lease to RAF and RAAF. 458 supplied to RAF and 121 to RAAF.

USAAF Variants

;XA-31A :Redesignated prototype Vengeance accepted by USAAF in June 1942. Vultee designation V-88. ;XA-31B :XA-31A modified as testbed for 3,000 hp (2,240 kW) Pratt & Whitney XR-4360-1 Wasp Major. ;XA-31C :Vengeance III modified as testbed for 2,200 hp (1,640 kW)

Wright R-3350 The Wright R-3350 Duplex-Cyclone is an American twin-row, supercharged, air-cooled, radial aircraft engine with 18 cylinders displacing nearly . Power ranged from , depending on model. Developed before World War II, the R-3350's design requi ...

-18 Duplex Cyclone engine. One converted. ;YA-31C :Vengeance IIIs modified as testbeds for R-3350-17 engines for

B-29 Superfortress The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is a retired American four-engined Propeller (aeronautics), propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to ...

. Five built. ;A-35A :Redesigned version for USAAF and Lend-Lease. 4° wing incidence. Powered by 1,700 hp (1269 kW) R-2600-13 or -8 engine. Four forward-firing .50 in (12.7 mm) caliber

M2 Browning machine gun The M2 machine gun or Browning .50-caliber machine gun (informally, "Ma Deuce") is a heavy machine gun that was designed near the end of World War I by John Browning. While similar to Browning's M1919 Browning machine gun, which was chamber ...

s and one in rear cockpit. Vultee designation V-88. 99 aircraft built. ;A-35B :Modified aircraft with six forward-firing 0.50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns and additional bomb racks. 831 built.

Unbuilt variants

;TBV-1 Georgia :Proposed torpedo bomber; not built.

Operators

; *

** No. 12 Squadron RAAF ** No. 21 Squadron RAAF **

No. 23 Squadron RAAF No. 23 (City of Brisbane) Squadron of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is a non-flying base operations and training squadron headquartered at RAAF Base Amberley near Brisbane, Queensland. The squadron was formed in 1937 and saw action agai ...

** No. 24 Squadron RAAF ** No. 25 Squadron RAAF ** No. 3 Communication Unit RAAF ** No. 4 Communication Unit RAAF ** No. 5 Communication Unit RAAF ** No. 6 Communication Unit RAAF ** No. 7 Communication Unit RAAF ** No. 9 Communication Unit RAAF ; *

Brazilian Air Force The Brazilian Air Force (, FAB) is the air branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces and one of the three national uniformed services. The FAB was formed when the Brazilian Brazilian Army Aviation (1919–1941), Army and Brazilian Naval Aviation, Nav ...

** 1st Dive-Bombing Squadron ** 2nd Dive-Bombing Squadron ; *

Free French Air Forces The Free French Air Forces (, FAFL) were the air arm of the Free French Forces in the Second World War, created by Charles de Gaulle in 1940. The designation ceased to exist in 1943 when the Free French Forces merged with General Giraud's force ...

** GB 1/32 Bourgogne ** GB 1/17 Picardie ** GB 2/15 Anjou ;

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

** No. 7 Squadron IAF ** No. 8 Squadron IAF ** No.1 Service Flying Training School ** No.22 Anti Aircraft Cooperation Unit ** No.1 Target Towing Flight ; *

No. 45 Squadron RAF Number 45 Squadron is a flying squadron of the Royal Air Force. The squadron, which was established on 1 March 1916 as part of the Royal Flying Corps, currently provides flying training using Embraer Phenom T1s and operates under the command ...

No. 82 Squadron RAF No. 82 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force squadron that was first formed in 1917 and disbanded in 1963. It served at times as a bomber unit, a reconnaissance unit and lastly as an Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) unit. History Forma ...

No. 84 Squadron RAF No. 84 Squadron of the Royal Air Force is at present a Search and Rescue Squadron based at RAF Akrotiri. The squadron transitioned from the previously operated Bell Griffin HAR.2 to operate the Puma HC.2 in 2023, until the Puma's retirement i ...

** No. 110 Squadron RAF ** No. 288 Squadron RAF ** No. 289 Squadron RAF ** No. 291 Squadron RAF ** No. 567 Squadron RAF ** No. 577 Squadron RAF ** No. 587 Squadron RAF ** No. 595 Squadron RAF ** No. 631 Squadron RAF ** No. 667 Squadron RAF **

No. 679 Squadron RAF No. 679 Squadron RAF was an anti-aircraft co-operation squadron of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. History No. 679 Squadron was formed on 1 December 1943 at RAF Ipswich, Suffolk, from 1616 and 1627 (anti-aircraft co-operation ...

** No. 691 Squadron RAF ** No. 695 Squadron RAF *

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

–

721 Naval Air Squadron 721 Naval Air Squadron (721 NAS) was a Fleet Air Arm (FAA) naval air squadron of the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy (RN). 721 Naval Air Squadron formed at HMS ''Gadwall'', RNAS Belfast, Northern Ireland, at the beginning of March 1945, as a Fleet ...

** 733 Naval Air Squadron **

791 Naval Air Squadron 791 Naval Air Squadron (791 NAS) was a Fleet Air Arm (FAA) naval air squadron of the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy (RN) which last disbanded at Sembawang in June 1947. It formed as an Air Target Towing Unit, at HMS ''Condor'', RNAS Arbroath, i ...

; *

U.S. Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

** 55th Bombardment Squadron (Dive) ** 56th Bombardment Squadron (Dive) ** 57th Bombardment Squadron (Dive) ** 88th Bombardment Squadron (Dive) ** 309th Bombardment Squadron (Dive) ** 311th Bombardment Squadron (Dive) ** 312th Bombardment Squadron (Dive) ** 623rd Bombardment Squadron (Dive) ** 628th Bombardment Squadron (Dive) ** 629th Bombardment Squadron (Dive) ** 630th Bombardment Squadron (Dive) ** 631st Bombardment Squadron (Dive)

Surviving aircraft

One complete Vengeance IA that did not see squadron service, serial number A27-99 (EZ999), is displayed at the Camden Museum of Aviation at Narellan,

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Components of Vengeance IIA A24-247 are held at the

Historical Aircraft Restoration Society The Historical Aircraft Restoration Society, often referred to by its acronym, HARS, is an Australian based aircraft restoration group. The group has two museums, at Shellharbour Airport in New South Wales, Australia, and Parkes, New South Wale ...

, Australia, to form the basis of a restoration project.

Specifications (Vengeance I)

Vultee A-35 Vengeance 3-view line drawing

{{Aircraft specs , prime units?=imp , ref=''British Warplanes of World War II.''{{sfn, March, 1998, p=241 , crew=2 (pilot, navigator/gunner) , length ft=39 , length in=9 , length m=12.12 , span ft=48 , span in=0 , span m=14.63 , height ft=15 , height in=4 , height m=4.67 , wing area sqft=332 , wing area sqm=30.84 , empty weight lb=9,725 , empty weight kg=4,411 , max takeoff weight lb=14,300 , max takeoff weight kg=6,486 , eng1 name=

Wright R-2600 The Wright R-2600 Cyclone 14 (also called Twin Cyclone) is an American radial engine developed by Curtiss-Wright, and widely used in aircraft in the 1930s and 1940s. History In 1935, Curtiss-Wright began work on a more powerful version of thei ...

-A5B-5 Twin Cyclone , eng1 type=14 cylinder radial air-cooled engine , eng1 number=1 , eng1 hp=1,600 , eng1 kw=1,193 , max speed mph=275 , max speed kts=239 , max speed kmh=443 , max speed note=at 11,000 ft (3,350 m) , cruise speed mph=235 , cruise speed kts=204 , cruise speed kmh=378 , range miles=1,400 , range nmi=1,220 , range km=2,253 , ceiling ft=22,500 , ceiling m=6,860 , wing loading lb/sqft=43.1 , wing loading kg/m2=210 , power/mass=0.11 hp/lb (0.18 kW/kg) , guns=
** 4 × fixed forward-firing {{convert, .30, in, mm, adj=on, abbr=on, 2 Browning machine guns in the wing ** 2 × flexible mount {{convert, .30, in, mm, adj=on, abbr=on, 2 ''or'' {{convert, .303, in, mm, adj=on, abbr=on machine guns in rear cockpit.{{{sfn, Shores, Smith, 1977, p=33{efn, RAF aircraft operating over Burma replaced the .30 in (7.62 mm) Browning machine guns in the rear cockpit with British built .303 in (7.7 mm) guns owing to poor reliability of the American built guns on flexible mountings.{{sfn, Shores, Smith, 1977, p=33 , bombs=
** 2 × internal {{convert, 500, lb, abbr=on bombs ** 2 × {{convert, 250, lb, abbr=on bomb on wing racks

Notes

{{notelist

Footnotes

{{Reflist, 20em

Bibliography

{{refbegin * {{cite book , last1=Angelucci , first1=Enzo , last2=Matricardi , first2=Paolo , title=World Aircraft: World War II , volume=II , year=1978 , series=Sampson Low Guides , publisher=Sampson Low , location=Maidenhead , isbn=0-562-00096-8 * {{cite book , first1=Kit C. , last1=Carter , first2= Robert , last2=Mueller , series=U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II , title=Combat Chronology 1941–1945 , date=1991 , publisher=United States Government Printing Office , location=Washington, DC , url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GOVPUB-D301-PURL-LPS48331/pdf/GOVPUB-D301-PURL-LPS48331.pdf , edition=repr. , isbn=978-0-91-279968-1 World War II anniversary edition * {{cite book , ref={{harvid, Dennis, 2008, last1=Dennis , first1=Peter , last2=Grey , first2=Jeffrey , last3=Morris , first3=Ewan , last4=Prior , first4=Robin , last5=Bou , first5=Jean , title=The Oxford Companion to Australian Military History , publisher=Oxford University Press , location=Melbourne , year=2008 , edition=2nd , isbn=978-0-19-551784-2 * {{cite book , editor-last=Donald , editor-first=David , title=American Warplanes of World War II , year=1995 , publisher=Aerospace Publishing , location=London , isbn=1-874023-72-7 * {{cite book , last=Freeman , first=Roger , title=Mighty Eighth War Manual: Part 2, Armament and Equipment , year=1984 , publisher=Jane's Publishing , location=London , edition=4th , isbn=0-7106-0325-8 * {{cite book , last=Halley , first=James J. , title=The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force , year=1984 , publisher=Air Britain (Historians) , location=Tonbridge , isbn=0-85130-083-9 * {{cite book , last=Holland , first=James , title=Burma '44; The Battle That Turned Britain's War In The East , date=2016 , publisher=Bantam Press , location=London , isbn=978-0-59-307586-9 * {{cite book , last=Lawrence , first=Joseph , title=The Observer's Book Of Airplanes: Describing one hundred and eleven Types , location=London and New York , publisher=Frederick Warne & Co , year=1945 , oclc=884470824 , ref=none * {{cite magazine , last=Lopes , first=Mario Canoniga , title=Talkback , magazine=

Air Enthusiast ''Air Enthusiast'' was a British, bi-monthly, aviation magazine, published by the Key Publishing group. Initially begun in 1974 as ''Air Enthusiast Quarterly'', the magazine was conceived as a historical adjunct to ''Air International'' magaz ...

, date=Spring 1994 , issue=53 , pages=79–80 , issn=0143-5450 , ref=none * {{cite book , editor-last=March , editor-first=Daniel J. , title=British Warplanes of World War II , year=1998 , publisher=Aerospace Publishing , location=London , isbn=1-874023-92-1 * {{cite magazine , magazine=Air Enthusiast , issue=71 , date=September–October 1997 , pages=68–71 , first=Don R. , last=Neate , title=With a Vengeance! Fighting Malaria in West Africa, Vultee-style , issn=0143-5450 * {{cite magazine , last=Pelletier , first=Alain J. , title=Consumptive Vengeance: Vultee A-35s in French Service , magazine=Air Enthusiast , issue=128 , date=March–April 2007 , pages=75–79 , location=Stamford , publisher=Key , issn=0143-5450 * {{cite magazine , last1=Shores , first1=Christopher , last2=Smith , first2=Frank , title=Diving Vengeance , magazine=

, issue=5 , location=Bromley , publisher=Pilot Press , year=1977 , pages=29–43 , issn=0143-5450 * {{cite book , last=Smith , first=Peter C. , title=Vengeance! The Vultee Vengeance Dive Bomber , year=1986 , publisher=Airlife , location=Shrewsbury , isbn=978-0-906393-65-9 * {{cite book , last=Smith , first=Peter C. , title=Jungle Dive Bombers at War , date=1987 , publisher=John Murray , location=London , isbn=0719544254 * {{cite book , last=Wegg , first=John , title=General Dynamic Aircraft and their Predecessors , year=1990 , publisher=Putnam , location=London , isbn=0-85177-833-X {{refend

External links

{{Commons category, Vultee A-31 Vengeance
USAF museum A-31

USAF museum A-35A

USAF museum A-35B

AirToAirCombat.Com: Vultee A-35 Vengeance
{{Vultee aircraft {{USAF attack aircraft {{USN torpedo aircraft {{ADF aircraft designations {{Authority control A-31 1940s United States attack aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1941 Single-engined tractor aircraft Low-wing aircraft Aircraft with retractable conventional landing gear Single-engined piston aircraft