The Curtiss YA-10 Shrike (Model 59B) was a 1930s United States test and development version of the A-8 Shrike ground-attack aircraft using various

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is ...

s in place of the inline Vee.

Development

The Curtiss YA-10 Shrike was the first YA-8 fitted with a

Pratt & Whitney R-1690 The Pratt & Whitney R-1690 Hornet was a widely used American aircraft engine. Developed by Pratt & Whitney, 2,944 were produced from 1926 through 1942. It first flew in 1927. It was a single-row, 9-cylinder air-cooled radial design. Displacem ...

-9 (R-1690D) Hornet radial engine. The conversion was carried out in September 1932, and it was found that the aircraft's performance was not degraded by the change of engine, and low-level maneuverability was improved due to the lower mass moment of inertia with the short radial engine. The USAAC preferred radials to inline engines for the ground attack role, due to the vulnerability of the latter's cooling system to anti-aircraft fire. The US Navy also preferred radials for carrier-borne operations."The Illustrated Encyclopedia of the 20th Century Weapons and Warfare" Editor: Bernard Fitzsimons (Purnell & Sons Ltd., ) 1967/1969, Vol. 21 Upon completion of testing the Army changed an order for 46 A-8B aircraft to the production version of the YA-10, the A-12 Shrike.

Operational history

Following completion of testing, the YA-10 was assigned to the 3rd Attack Group for operational service, then in 1934 it was assigned to the

Command and General Staff School The United States Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC or, obsolete, USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is a graduate school for United States Army and sister service officers, interagency representatives, and international military ...

. The YA-10 was scrapped in early 1939. The XS2C-1 was the Navy's first two-seat warplane. Since it was not equipped for carrier operations, it remained a prototype.

Variants

;YA-10: Model 59B, one U.S. Army Air Corps prototype ;XS2C-1: Model 69, one U.S. Navy prototype with a 625 hp (466 kW) Wright R-1510-28 Whirlwind engine, delivered December 1932"The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft
cover
Editors: Paul Eden & Soph Moeng, (Amber Books Ltd. Bradley's Close, 74-77 White Lion Street, London, NI 9PF, 2002, ), 1152 pp.

Operators

; *

United States 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 r ...

Specifications (YA-10)

References